Eastern Coal Holdings (NZ) Ltd – Rochfort Coal Ltd
Eastern’s
wholly owned subsidiary, Rochfort Coal Ltd, holds the Whareatea West Exploration Permit on the Denniston Plateau and the Ohai Exploration Permit over an extensive area
in the far south of New Zealand's South Island.
Whareatea West, South Island, New Zealand:
- Close to the Company's Cascade coal mine
- Close to infrastructure for domestic and export markets
- Preliminary analyses indicate export quality hard coking coal
- Targeting the establishment of coking and thermal coal resource
Whareatea
West is located in the north west of the South Island, near Westport in the
Buller region and approximately 5km from the company's Cascade mine.
Previous exploration indicates that Whareatea West may contain export quality hard coking coal. The establishment of an initial coking coal resource of 20 million tonnes is targeted. A 2 year, 11 hole exploration programme has been submitted to the Department of Crown Minerals and the Department of Conservation to further assess coal quality and estimate the total size of the resource.
Following the completion of the analysis, a decision will be taken on whether to proceed with a feasibility study into the development of an export coking coalmine.
Ohai, South Island, New Zealand
Rochfort Coal Ltd has been granted an Exploration Permit which covers a large area encompassing the Takitimu mine. The coal seams identified within the Takitimu mining tenements extend into the Ohai permit, creating the potential to expand the coal resource.