The 12600 exploration licence and associated mining licence application is owned by Enkhtunkh Orchlon – which Guildford recently acquired from a Noble subsidiary for an undisclosed sum.
Guildford said this block was in the northwestern part of the Baruun Noyon Uul basin. Coal seams from Guildford’s BNU mine also continue into this block.
“The 12600 licence will play an important role in Guildford’s expansion plans for the coking coal operations in the South Gobi,” the Queensland-based coal company said.
“A combined geological model has been constructed of the 12600 exploration data with the Guildford BNU exploration data and a JORC upgrade is expected imminently.”
Production at BNU restarted in late 2014. The mine is initially targeting up to one million tonnes per annum of low-ash, low-sulphur hard coking coal production for Chinese steelmakers.
