The project consists of 675 hectares of recently issued British Columbia government coal licenses and 450ha of coal license applications.
The Cariboo Coal Field, 28km south of Quesnel, BC, was discovered along the banks of Australian Creek, where an oxidised coal seam out-cropped and became known as the Rail Track showing. At the time, annual production of 290,000 tonnes of high-grade thermal coal was projected to support a 60MW mine-mouth power plant.
The company said Australian Creek had the best potential in the Cariboo Coal Field for developing significant coal reserves based on geophysics, geological mapping and drilling. Two historic drill holes intersected a 24.1m and an 18.7m thick coal zone.
Results from 25 drill holes and air-borne geophysics identified resources to a depth of 80m estimated in area ‘A’ to be 29,462,400t and in area ‘B’ to be 74,160,000t for a total of 103,622,400t.
“Management believes that the Cariboo Coal Fields project provides the company with an additional significant coal asset in the highly attractive energy sector with potential to access the international thermal coal markets via the adjacent CN Rail line and the Ridley Island Coal Terminal at Prince Rupert BC,” the company said.
"There has been a spate of recent coal-plant proposals due to the rising cost of natural gas and increasing demand for energy - especially in California. According to the Edison Electric Institute, there are currently up to 26 coal plants under consideration in the western United States."
