The update establishes a product split at BBM of 70% coking coal and 30% pulverised coal injection coal.
“This increase is 100% premium coking coal confirming our view that the coal quality of the BBM project continues to develop as a primarily coking coal project as we progress towards the east,” Cokal executive director Pat Hanna said.
BBM covers an area of 20,000 hectares in the country’s Central Kalimantan province and is immediately adjacent to BHP Billiton’s Juloi tenement straddling the Barito River.
Cokal managing director Jim Middleton said the most recently increased seam exhibited the same encouraging coking features as other deposits at the project with very low impurities and metallurgical attributes sought by Asian steelmakers.
“The low in-situ ash content indicates there is a reasonable opportunity that a direct ship style operation can be developed, avoiding the need to construct a coal washing plant which would involve significant time and capital,” he said.
“This is indeed a distinct advantage.”
Cokal has a prefeasibility study underway focused on an early open-cut production scenario with barging on the Barito River.
Cokal says although Indonesia is already recognised as one of the world’s largest exporters of thermal coal, the country has substantial potential in the metallurgical market.
The explorer plans to put BBM into production “as early as possible” and projected a 1-2Mt per annum direct shipping operation.
