In December, the coking and thermal coal explorer was the latest junior company to receive takeover interest after a number of unsolicited approaches were made by interested buyers at asset and corporate levels.
It appointed Grant Samuel Corporate Finance as its financial advisor but stressed a possible corporate transaction was still “preliminary” and “incomplete.”
The takeover interest came off the back of a number of significant project advancements undertaken by the company during the fourth quarter of 2011.
During the quarter, Endocoal announced a 500% increase in the total JORC resource for its Rockwood tenement following an aggressive drilling program.
Rockwood’s total JORC resource now stands at 312.5Mt, up from 51.6Mt.
However Endocoal said it had to decrease its exploration activities at Rockwood during the month of November in preparation for the wet season.
By the end of December field work had ceased.
Field exploration at Endocoal’s other tenements continued throughout the quarter, with one drill rig operational at its Orion Down projects.
One drill hole was completed at the Essex project during the quarter and intersected numerous coal seams.
The drill hole is a part of a scout drilling program planned for the area.
Meanwhile Endocoal said it applied for six tenements to ensure a pipeline of projects for the company’s future.
All tenements are located in the Bowen Basin and are prospective for coal resources.
Endocoal continued project evaluation work for its Meteor Downs South tenement, a planned open-cut mine producing 1.5 million tonnes per annum of coal.
As part of the project evaluation, Endocoal has focused its assessment on mine design, mine-site access and operations planning.
In parallel with these activities Endocoal said it progressed with preparation of an environmental management plan for Meteor Downs South.
The company recently completed a $12 million capital raising and welcomed equity groups AMCI Capital and Macquarie Capital as new shareholders.
The funds will be spread through continued planning for the Meteor Down South, further drilling at Rockwood as well as commencing exploration at its other Bowen Basin projects.
