Universal Coal’s two early-stage coking coal exploration projects in the Limpopo province will undergo extensive exploration drilling next year as the company seeks to establish itself as a coking coal and thermal coal explorer producer, he reportedly told a media briefing in Johannesburg.
The Berenice-Cygnus coking coal project, with a gross in situ resource of 1.3 billion tonnes declared from the first phase of drilling, is already attracting interest, he said.
A second phase of drilling, to prove up the resource further, is scheduled to begin in early 2012 and a scoping study is already underway.
The company remains focused on developing a profitable business at its near-term production thermal coal projects in the heart of the Witbank coalfield.
These three projects have a total of 294Mt of resource of export and domestic coal.
Harwood said his goal in 2012 is to achieve market recognition of the potential of the thermal coal projects to provide a robust and profitable platform for growth and to fully exploit the potential of the coking coal assets that are set to redefine Universal’s business.
The Brakfontein coal project is located in the Delmas district, on the western margin of the Witbank coalfield and is one of Universal Coal’s three near-term thermal coal production assets in South Africa.
The majority of the country’s electricity is coal-generated and most of that comes from the Witbank coalfield, which hosts Universal Coal’s thermal coal projects, including Brakfontein.
