The explorer said in its update yesterday that the final eight holes of its 50-hole drilling program would be finished in two to three weeks.

So far, the results have exceeded its expectations.

“There have been more widespread intersections of the B4, B8, B9 seams, which are the thickest in the deposit, and in the northern area seams B7‐B9 have been intersected further south and west than previously thought,” Cuesta said.

Cuesta expects to upgrade its resources – which at the moment total 146.1Mt including 14.6Mt in the measured category and 36.4Mt in the indicated category – in the next two months.

It said the drilling program was a critical component of the DFS, which it would start in 2014.

Under its existing plans, the explorer aims to produce a southern open cut in the project area to produce 2 million tonnes per annum over a mine life of 30 years, with a low strip ratio of 3.2:1 and an estimated yield of 89%.

Cuesta aims to produce first coal from the project within a three-year timeframe.