“This drill program … will allow the current measured and indicated resource of 39 million tonnes to be increased by upgrading a significant portion of the current inferred resource of 59 million tonnes to the measured or indicated resource category,” the company said.
“[It permits] Pincock Allen & Holt to complete a feasibility study on a much larger resource with a potential mine life in excess of 20 years.”
The feasibility study is expected to be finished in the second quarter of next year.
In total, Compliance drilled 42 holes to a total of 9899 meters. Coal was intersected in all but one, as the lower seams were displaced due to faulting.
As noted earlier this year, the producer is interested economically in two of the seams, 1 and 3.
“They have been intercepted at various depths in thicknesses ranging from 1 to 7.4 meters for Seam 1 and 0.65 to 5.35 meters for Seam 3,” the company noted.
Compliance said that all intersections were cored and sampled ply by ply, then turned over to Gwil Industries’ Birtley Coal & Minerals Testing in Calgary to determine washability and quality. It is anticipated the results will be returned by December.
Meanwhile, it is working with AMEC Earth and Environment to prepare an environmental assessment. Baseline monitoring has been initiated and crews are in the field performing archaeological, fish and wildlife, vegetation, hydrogeological and hydrological surveys.
“AMEC are currently preparing the environmental assessment application information requirements, which will be submitted to the government prior to year end,” Compliance said.
“[It] will outline the specific information and studies that will be provided in the environmental assessment certificate application, which is targeted for submission in the second quarter of 2010.”
Compliance began exploratory drilling at Raven, located on Vancouver Island, in June. It said at the time it had secured three drilling contractors and a total of four drilling rigs.
The company had received the underground exploration permit for the British Columbia complex just weeks earlier from the province’s Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.
Compliance is developing Raven as part of a joint venture signed in February with Japanese firm Itochu Corporation and Korea-based LG International, both of which have elected Compliance as the complex’s managing owner.
Check out the August issue of Coal USA Magazine, out now, for more information on the Raven project.
