The tenement’s inferred coal resources include 825 million tonnes estimated at less than 50m depth and 1.2Bt estimated at less than 100m depth

The company says the shallow and gently dipping basin structure provides a range of opportunities for mine design with sub-crops in both the eastern and western parts of the deposit.

The initial area selected for mining is about13km long and 5km wide, and contains in excess of 600Mt of inferred coal. Given the extent of the deposit, other mining areas within the deposit would be considered in the future.

The initial study area is a shallow basin structure with target seams dipping gently towards its centre. Seams sub-crop on both the eastern and western sides of the deposit at shallow depths provide a range of options for mine design and sequencing.

CoalBank says cross-sections in the deposit illustrate the opportunity to commence mining at shallow depths, potentially from both the western and eastern edges.

Further field exploration work will include drilling to increase the level of knowledge of the deposit within the proposed mining study area and provide further information for mining studies.

CoalBank invests in and develops early stage upstream energy projects and claims to hold one of the largest coal exploration permit areas in Australia.