Coalspur Mines Limited (ASX:CPL) Scoping Study Confirms Potential For Strong Economics On Hinton Coal Project
Perth, Feb 10, 2010 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Coalspur Mines Limited (
ASX:CPL) (PINK:CSPZF) is pleased to announce the completion of a positive Scoping Study confirming the economic viability of the Company's wholly owned Hinton Coal Project ("HCP" or "Project") in Alberta, Canada.
The Scoping Study is based on the HCP Coal Resource estimate previously completed by the Company comprising 467 million tonnes ("Mt") of low sulphur, bituminous thermal coal, of which 90% is in the Measured and Indicated categories.
Coalspur retained Wardrop, a Tetra Tech company ("Wardrop"), to complete the Scoping Study, which is based on an annual production rate of 7.4Mtpa run-of-mine ("ROM") producing 4.0Mtpa saleable coal for a minimum 14 year mine life.
The Scoping Study result confirms the potential for strong economics on the Project which has the capacity to generate pre-tax cash margins of approximately US$150 million per annum.
Favourable geology, low strip ratios and existing infrastructure allow for low operating costs averaging US$46.80/t the first five years of production and averaging US$48.40/t free-on-board Ridley Island Coal Terminal ("FOB Ridley") over the life-of-mine ("LOM"). The costs are based on existing CN Rail haulage capacity and existing capacity at Ridley Island Coal Terminal at the Port of Prince Rupert.
The existing infrastructure has greatly reduced the Project's upfront fixed capital requirements, with Capex for the coal handling and process plant ("CHPP") and project infrastructure totalling US$185 million. Wardrop has allowed a further US$69 million for the Project's indirects, EPCM and Company costs during the development period.
The Scoping Study concentrated on the Hinton East and West regions of the HCP consisting of an area of 2,967ha. The Scoping Study did not include an additional 19,671ha in the Coalspur Project ("CSP") leases which are now being evaluated for additional coal resources.
The Directs believe that the positive results of the Scoping Study are further testament to the potential scale of the Company's Hinton Coal Prject. Mr Gene Wusaty, Managing Director and CEO, said "The fundamentals of this Project allow for low operating and infrastructure costs. In my experience it is rare to find a high quality coal project in such close proximity to extensive underutilised first world class infrastructure."
"The exceptional results of this Scoping Study and present market forecasts clearly show the development potential for the Project. The next steps are to complete Coal Resource estimates on the Coalspur Project leases and incorporate them into a larger consolidated new mine plan. Once this is complete we plan to take the Project to the feasibility leve."
For the complete Coalspur Mines ASX Announcement, please click the link below:
http://www.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/62254-ASX-CPL-480028.pdf
About Coalspur Mines Limited
Coalspur Mines Limited (ASX:CPL) (TSE:CPT) is a coal development company with approximately 55,000 hectares of coal leases located within the Hinton region of Alberta, Canada. Coalspur's flagship project is Vista, which covers approximately 10,000 hectares and provides a large scale, surface mineable, thermal coal development. Vista is located adjacent to CN Rail's main line, which is suitable for the transport of coal to deepwater ports on Canada's west coast. Coalspur has secured a port allocation agreement with Ridley Terminals Inc., which is essential to the logistics supply chain necessary to export coal from Vista to the growing demand from the Asia Pacific countries.
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