Quarterly Activities & Cashflow Report
Sydney, Jan 31, 2013 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Cuesta Coal Limited (
ASX:CQC) are pleased to provide the December Quarterly Activities & Cashflow Report.
HIGHLIGHTS
CORPORATE
- Company-transforming bolt-on acquisition of the Orion Coal Project announced.
- Orion Coal Project is adjacent to Moorlands Deposit creating 136Mt thermal coal project with significant exploration upside located 14km from Blair Athol Coal Mine.
- Advanced discussions underway with Beijing Guoli for funding of acquisition and project development.
- Cash on hand $10.40m.
PRIORITY PROJECTS
- Moorlands Deposit
- Moorlands exploration programme completed resulting in a 35% increase in JORC Resource to 53.4Mt.
- Resource calculation underway for combined Moorlands resource including the contiguous Orion Coal Project, hosting significant open cut mining potential.
- Cuesta's flagship priority project is to fast-track Cuesta from explorer to developer. Scoping study planned for Q1 2013.
- Eastern Galilee Project
- Yellow Jacket exploration programme completed, maiden resource estimate scheduled for end of Q1 2013.
QUARTERLY OVERVIEW
The quarter ending 31 December 2012 was a busy period of corporate and operational activity for Cuesta.
Cuesta acquired the Orion Coal Project for $18.2m, which will be integrated with Cuesta's existing Moorlands Deposit to the immediate south, creating a "flagship project". Together, they will be referred to as the Moorlands Deposit. The transaction detail is set out in Section 2.
The combined Moorlands resources total 136Mt with two open pit opportunities and a coal bearing strike length of approximately 20km offering further exploration upside potential through exploration activities. A revised resource estimate is currently in progress.
A key advantage of the Moorlands Deposit is that it is 14km from the existing infrastructure at the Blair Athol Mine.
A scoping study will commence in Q1 2013, with two resource definition drilling phases planned for 2013. Cuesta proposes to develop the Moorlands Deposit at a ROM production rate of 4Mtpa in a staged start-up to reduce development timetable and start-up capital expenditure, over a minimum 20 year mine life.
Exploration activities during the December quarter have focused on the 100% owned Moorlands Deposit (prior to the Orion Project acquisition) and the 100% owned Yellow Jacket Project. Encouraging intersections were encountered in both projects resulting in a resource upgrade including a maiden JORC Measured Coal Resource at Moorlands and a maiden JORC Inferred Resource is targeted at Yellow Jacket in the first quarter of 2013. Further drilling information is given in detail in section 3.
Cuesta continues to investigate infrastructure options principally for the Moorlands Deposit and is targeting formal agreements in 2013.
At the end of December 2012, Cuesta had cash and cash equivalents of $10.40m.
View the complete Cuesta Coal quarterly report at the link below:
http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/ASX-CQC-718371.pdf
Contact
Cuesta Coal Limited
T: +61-2-9284-5900
F: +61-2-9284-5999
E: info@cuestacoal.com.au
WWW: www.cuestacoal.com.au
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