A total of seven boreholes are planned for View’s Tuyuk-Kargasha, Min Teke and Kokkia tenements in order to test an exploration target of 500-700 million tonnes of coal based on historical exploration.

Exploration licensing was granted by the Kyrgyzstan Agency of Geology for work to begin immediately at the Kokkia, Min Teke and Sary Mogol projects where the company said it had already identified the presence of high-energy thermal coal.

“This is a very rapid start-up of our exploration activities in Kyrgyzstan, especially given that the Bishkek office was only established in April and the Kokkia Coal Limited transaction was only completed in June of this year,” View managing director Grant Thomas said.

“The commitment of View to the Kokkia assets is clear and our focus will be on defining resources that are compliant with the JORC code.”

Other progress made in the coal explorer’s Kyrgyzstan portfolio includes the trenching of Tuyuk-Kargasha (target: 382-475Mt) and topographic and geological mapping at Sary Mogol.

Road access work to Min Teke has begun while contracts and assessments for roadworks at Tuyuk-Kargasha, Kokkia and Bel Alma are underway.

View recently acquired a 90% interest in the Sary Mogol and Bel Alma coal licences located in the Alai Range region of southern Kyrgyzstan and is earning an 80% interest in the Tuyuk-Kargasha, Kokkia and Min Teke licences in the Uzgen Basin in Kyrgyzstan.