After delays including Christmas, the wet season, supplier problems and customs bureaucracy forced a stoppage of all in-country activities, the coal explorer resumed an 11-borehole, 2100m program on Tuesday, two weeks later than expected.
Due to the difficult terrain of the Sakoa Basin, two rigs drilling 20m per rig per day are expected to complete the program by mid-June 2012.
Exploration at the Imaloto project has so far resulted in a JORC-compliant inferred resource of 176.6 million tonnes of coal.
The current phase of drilling also includes the initial exploration of the adjacent Imaloto Extension project which comprises two permits measuring 6.25sq.km each.
Further drilling is planned to follow completion of the Imaloto program with a 24-borehole, 720m campaign in test blocks east of the Imaloto river.