Led by ex-MIM and Oaky Creek general manager Peter Lynch, much of the company’s plans centre around exploring deeper deposits where mining has historically taken place, but may have been overlooked.
Waratah currently holds four granted coal exploration licences, three in Queensland and one in New South Wales. It also has another 13 coal exploration licences under application – 10 in Queensland and three in the Northern Territory.
The company’s main strategy is the application of high-volume underground mining techniques to deep metallurgical coal resources, which the company says it has the technical experience to carry out given its executive experience.
The company has also embraced new clean-coal technology, with a coal-to-liquids operation possible for one of its project areas.
“Waratah's exploration team is well advanced in the search for new concealed and previously unidentified coal-bearing sedimentary basins. Queensland hosts examples of very large coal mines and resources such as Blair Athol and Wolfang which exemplify this type of deposit in a concealed basin,” the company said.
Waratah’s first priority will be a program of 16 deep drillholes on the Styx Basin Project, located on the central Queensland coast, midway between Mackay and Rockhampton.
The area had previously been mined up until 1964 and government records show the existence of metallurgical properties in some of the seams.
Waratah Coal intends to explore for a target resource of metallurgical coal down dip of the old workings and in poorly tested lower seams below existing mined seams.
The company also holds an exploration licence over the Nymboida Project, in the northeast of New South Wales. Nymboida was an historic underground coal mine which was worked up until 1979 supplying high energy coal for a local power station.
Waratah will conduct a drilling program on a 1km spacing to test the strike potential of the Farquar Seam to the northwest and southeast of the old mine.
In Queensland, Waratah has an exploration licence at South Alpha, in the eastern Galilee Basin in Central Queensland. The seams are reported to contain high quality thermal coal, low in sulfur and ash after washing. The Waratah Coal licence area surrounds an existing resource historically reported to contain 2.1 billion tonnes. Waratah said this coal was highly suitable for coal-to-liquids processing.
The fourth granted licence covers the Stanwell project, located immediately north of the Capricorn Highway opposite the Stanwell Power Station in Central Queensland.
Waratah said it expects its remaining exploration applications will be granted over the next six months. The company is currently in the process of recruiting an exploration manager.
Not content just with Australia, the company has also commenced a targeted project investment strategy within the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan.
“Waratah Coal intends to add to its exploration-based growth strategy by actively pursuing project review and acquisition activities and internal strategic review processes to identify attractive merger and acquisition targets,” the company said.
The company raised gross proceeds of $C3 million by private placement of 6 million units at $C0.50 per unit. By the end of trading Thursday the price had more than doubled to $C1.20 per unit. The company has an issued capital of $C37.8 million ($A44 million).
