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- Atrum Coal (ATU) has completed its 2020 exploration program at its Elan Hard Coking Coal Project in Alberta, Canada
- A total of 125 rotary air blast (RAB) holes, 33 large diameter core (LDC) holes, and five HQ holes were drilled at the Isolation South area
- The aim of this drilling was to significantly upgrade the resource classification and potentially expand the resource base
- Results from the RAB drilling remained relatively in line with expectations, with average coal thickness of around 30 metres per hole
- Additionally, the coal intersections were shallow with depths starting as low as three metres below the surface
- Samples from the LDC drilling have been sent to GWIL Birtley in Calgary for laboratory testwork, washability, and detailed coal quality analysis
- Atrum Coal has ended the day a slight 1.69 per cent in the red with shares trading for 29 cents each
Atrum Coal (ATU) has completed its 2020 exploration program at its Elan Hard Coking Coal Project in Alberta, Canada.
The project was significantly explored in 2018 and 2019, with a JORC resource estimate of 454 million tonnes (142 million tonnes indicated and 312 million tonnes inferred) identified.
The aim of this drilling was to significantly upgrade the resource classification and potentially expand the resource base.
“The primary focus was infill drilling, both RAB and LDC, of the current inferred resource areas that were excluded from the Elan Project scoping study mine schedule,” CEO and Managing Director Andrew Caruso said.
“Upgrade of these inferred resources into indicated and/or measured categories delivers the strong potential for inclusion in the PFS mine schedule and subsequent conversion to reserves,” Andrew said.
The RAB drilling
The aim of the RAB drilling was to outline the structure and continuity of the optimised pit shell identified in the recent scoping study.
Results remained relatively in line with expectations, with average coal thickness of around 30 metres per hole.
The coal intersections were shallow with depths starting as low as three metres below the surface.
This work has confirmed the coal seams are continuous over the optimised pit shell.
The LDC drilling
The LDC drilling was completed earlier in the week and was conducted to demonstrate the continuity of coal quality.
Coal cores were submitted to GWIL Birtley in Calgary for laboratory testwork, washability, and detailed coal quality analysis.
The clean coal samples are being prepared by Birtley and will then be sent to COALTECH Petrographic Associates, USA for characterisation tests.
Further coal characterisation and carbonisation studies will now be undertaken on the samples.
The seismic survey
A 2D seismic survey was also undertaken at the Elan Project by Explor Geophysical.
Five individual lines were completed for a total of five line kilometres.
The aim of this survey was to help in the interpretation of structural features and data is currently being processed and interpreted.
Atrum Coal has ended the day a slight 1.69 per cent in the red with shares trading for 29 cents each in a $169.5 million market cap.
