The company also reported the purchase of a strategic shareholding in Australian Transport & Energy Corridor – a rail infrastructure development and investment company which has a 20% interest in the Surat Basin railway.

Cockatoo said the transaction “creates a strategic linkage to key rail infrastructure vital to the development of the company’s Queensland exploration portfolio”

Furthering the company’s stake in ATEC, managing director Mark Lochtenberg will shortly join the ATEC board of directors.

In the quarter, the company purchased its first freehold property over the Woori project in southern Queensland. The purchase comprises about 870 hectares of rural property.

“The acquisition represents a milestone in the development of the company’s Woori project as it secures surface rights and will facilitate the development of the Woori project in due course,” the company said.

The Brisbane-based company also completed the sale of its 25% interest in the coal-to-liquids joint venture exploration permits held jointly with Ambre Energy.

Meanwhile, through its wholly owned subsidiary Surat Coal, the company has granted a call option for the option-holder to purchase 100% of the wholly owned subsidiary Moreton Coal for $2.5 million. Moreton Coal holds the Mintovale coal project in Queensland.

“Due to the focus on the Bowen Basin and Surat Basin projects, the Mintovale coal project is considered not to be a core project of the company,” the company said in a statement about the sale.

The September quarter also saw 48 open holes drilled in the Bowen Basin, bringing the total number of open holes drilled in the program to 139 for a total of 24,413 metres.

The company also spent time in September using three exploration rigs to achieve targets in the Bowen South project and plans to move to four rigs in the coming weeks, following the engagement of additional drilling contractors.

Core drilling for washability studies was also completed in the Surat Basin, involving 14 fully cored holes completed for 1149m.

The company concluded the quarter in discussions with Queensland Rail and other relevant coal companies in order to facilitate a feasibility study as a first step towards an upgrade of the existing Moura-Gladstone line, in order to ensure a timely increase in capacity to accommodate future rail traffic volumes from the Surat Basin and Moura-Theodore regions.