The company will proceed with a feasibility study for the project in 2012 after it updated its JORC compliant measured resource estimate to 70.5 million tonnes.
The resource update follows completion of a 72 hole drilling program, with coal contained in four seams that had characteristics typical of the Witbank Coal Field, Universal Coal chairman Dr Tony Harwood said.
“It is very pleasing to report a measured resource at Brakfontein,” he said. “We now have a very high level of confidence in the resource that allows us to apply for a mining right and proceed with a feasibility study.”
Cut offs applied by the company included seam thicknesses of less than 0.5m and mined out areas.
The reduction in coal resources at Brakfontein from the initial resources of 125.6Mt is primarily due to the presence of previously unknown basement highs where no coal has developed and historical mined out areas.
The Brakfontein coal project is located in the Delmas district, on the western margin of the Witbank coalfield and is one of Universal Coal’s three near-term thermal coal production assets in South Africa.
The majority of the country’s electricity is coal-generated and most of that comes from the Witbank coalfield, which hosts Universal Coal’s thermal coal projects, including Brakfontein.
The company is also looking to develop two prospective coking coal projects, at the Soutpansberg coalfield, where its Berenice / Cygnus project is located, and within the Tuli coalfield at the Somerville Project.
