The Alpha Project consists of EPC1048, EPC1049, EPCA1179 and EPCA1180. It is currently held by a joint venture between Alpha Coal Pty Ltd, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandanna, and AMCI (Alpha) Pty Ltd (AMCI). Bandanna currently holds a 100% interest in the project, but AMCI has the right to earn up to a 50% interest in the project by expending up to $25,000,000 as more particularly described in Part 11.8. On successful completion of this expenditure, Bandanna will hold a 50% interest in the joint venture.
Location and Infrastructure
The project is located immediately south and to the west of the township of Alpha, which is approximately 160 km to the west of Emerald approximately mid-way between Emerald and Blackall.
Figure 5: Location of Alpha Project
The rail to Gladstone is located along the northern boundary of EPC 1049 and EPCA 1180 and the area is well serviced by a major highway.
Previous Exploration
The area covered by the permits has received little previous exploration coverage however the area to the north has been the focus of intensive exploration in recent years by several significant coal companies. The general area was extensively explored in the 1970’s by Total, Cogema, Shell and Bridge Oil. Immediately to the north of Alpha is Waratah Coal Inc’s (“Waratah”) EPC 1040, which contains a considerable deposit of export thermal coal as announced by Waratah.
Adjoining Waratah’s EPC 1040 to the north is Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd’s MDL 285, MDL 283 and EPC 570, which also contain a considerable deposit of export thermal coal as announced by Hancock. AMCI as Operator of the Joint Venture commenced a drilling programme on 29 April 2008. Drilling data indicates that so far, five seams, of which three are considered economically significant, have been intercepted. These have been denoted as the B, D1 and D2 Seams and appear to be the same seams intersected by Waratah and Hancock.
Resource Estimate
No resource has yet been estimated for this project. The exploration program which is currently underway will continue until early 2009. It is expected that a resource will be able to be estimated in accordance with the JORC Code towards the end of Quarter 1, 2009, once this program is completed.
Coal Quality
The coals in general appear to be high-volatile, low rank thermal coals. The current exploration program consists of an extensive pattern of cored boreholes. Once information from this program is finalised, detailed coal quality results will also be announced.