Nimrodel Resources, the Perth based coal and base metals explorer, has released infill drilling results that confirm the quality of its thermal coal at its 6.9 billion tonne deposit in south western Botswana.
The results within the Target Mining Area at Takatokwane, located 195km north west of the capital, Gaborone, showed high energy, low ash and low sulphur making the product ideal for export to South Africa in the short-term amongst the best in Botswana.
The Infill drilling results within Takatokwane Target Mining Area also confirm premium thermal coal within seams 2L, 3 and 4 with washed calorific value range greater than 6,000 Kcal/kg.
Managing Director of Nimrodel, Allan Mulligan says the results confirm the export quality of the coal and our close geographical proximity to South African domestic markets and associated transport infrastructure puts us in a strong position to develop a low cost, high value starter-mine to supply domestic and export markets.
Results from the Phase 2 close spaced drilling, designed to define an Indicated Resource within the most prospective areas of the Target Mining Area at Takatokwane, indicate that both raw and washed coal contained within seams 2L, 3, and 4 are lower in sulphur and ash and higher in calorific value than was defined in the Inferred Resource.
“This is important because it better defines the mineable resource illustrating its shallow, wide, consistent, and high quality nature underpinning our main priority to evaluate the development of a starter mine and generate early cash flow for the Company”; explains Mulligan.
The Target Mining Area is comprised of three sub-areas, the Western, Eastern and larger Northern Target Area. The Northern Target Area has been included although it has not yet been drilled at closer spacing than 4km intervals. It hosts consistent, high quality, mineable coal in seams 3 and 4
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“Coal in the Western Target Area also yields premium results although our modelling indicates that the thickness of seams 3 and 4 is slightly less than in the north. Other factors such as stability of hanging wall may determine the final mine location” said Mulligan.
Transport logistics required to create market access remain the single largest constraint upon the immediate commercial viability of Takatokwane’s coal and the Company is working on several innovative coal-to-market logistic options.
“We aim to develop a pipeline of projects and Takatokwane is our highest priority.
Notwithstanding the larger volume transportation issues, our objective is to get into production as early as possible through the starter-mine and de-risk the project while also working on innovative transport solutions, generating early cash flow and establishing a strong base for the larger, direct export market options to follow,” says Mulligan.