Of 12 new holes drilled at the Eastern Sumatran project, eight struck coal seam A, extending the strike distance to 6km at an average intersected thickness of 9.8m.

To date, the eight drilling rigs on Block 9, the first of the project’s three concessions to be explored, have completed 32 holes, with another eight holes in progress.

A second smaller coal seam has been intersected and a further five seams have been discovered below coal seam B that have the potential to substantially increase the volume of coal on Block 9, Indus said.

Indus has started wire-framing and modelling of the drilling data for coal seam A as part of the resource estimation process and has begun the development of a preliminary mine plan.

An initial open pit mine is planned and a location has been proposed to target coal seam A based on the drilling results. Indus said final designs would be completed once a resource was estimated.

Indus executive director Vinay Hairani said he hoped to build a mine that could produce an initial 2Mt of thermal coal per annum.

“The strike is now 6km in length and I have now directed additional rigs to drill holes in the southeast in order to follow this coal seam A as it extends southeastwards,” Hairani said.

“I am looking forward to the release of our maiden JORC statement on Block 9 within the next 30 days.”