In Coalworks’ 2010-11 annual report, chairman Wayne Mitchell said the appointments of Ian Craig and David Smith to the board gave the company the resources it needed to turn Vickery South into a mine.

“To continue to pursue our targets and enhance our performance, we have strengthened the board and management team during the year,” Mitchell said.

“Our target is to be producing 3 million tonnes of semi-soft coking and thermal coal per annum by 2015 from Vickery South.”

The company said Minarco-MineConsult was preparing a paper on mining options for the project as a result of the 2015 target.

Geological modelling undertaken at Vickery South during the financial year upgraded the JORC-compliant resource to 58.5Mt while a review of the completed pre-feasibility study on the project confirmed the 3Mtpa target.

Coalworks said it was in discussions with Whitehaven Coal to explore common infrastructure and boundary issues.

Meanwhile, Vickery South joint venture partner Itochu Corporation has proceded with the project’s bankable feasibility study, which Coalworks predicts will be completed by next year.

Following the agreement, Itochu will fund up to $6 million of the stage 2 exploration expenditure and will achieve an additional 20% in the project, raising its stake in the project from 29 to 49%.

Coalworks also progressed with its Ferndale project in the Upper Hunter Valley during the recent financial year, completing phase one and two drilling, with phase three drilling now commencing.

During the year, Coalworks entered into a joint venture agreement with private company Boardwalk, run by Queensland entrepreneur Nathan Tinkler, which has funded the drilling at Ferndale.

The joint venture partner will earn 50% of the Ferndale project for spending up to $25 million on a bankable feasibility study for open cut mining along with a prefeasibility study on underground mining development.

Ferndale has an exploration target of 350-530Mt of resources and is expected to be in production by 2016.