The upgrade lifted the total resources of the Buller project up from the 42.2Mt set in late July, to 47.1Mt.

Out of the total resources, 10Mt is measured, 24.6Mt is indicated and 12.5Mt is inferred.

Marston International is expected to complete a definitive feasibility on the open cut project by the end of this month, which will later be subject to an independent peer review.

Bathurst expects the Deep Creek prospect to contain similar hard coking coal to that found in the Escarpment prospect within the Buller project.

“The latest drilling results confirm the excellent potential of Deep Creek to be a near-term mine and the Buller project as a multi-mine operation,” Bathurst managing director Hamish Bohannan said.

“When added to the results from the Escarpment, mining at Deep Creek should significantly enhance the economics of the Buller project and the overall returns to Bathurst shareholders and the local community.”

He confirmed the objective is to start 1Mt per annum production from the December quarter of 2011, then to ramp up to 2Mtpa once other deposits such as Deep Creek are brought into operation.

“The next stage of Bathurst’s drilling program aims to build on the solid foundations of Escarpment and Deep Creek by firming up the resources in the Denniston sector and testing the exploration potential within the Buller project,” he said.

The Buller project area spans 10,000 hectares in permits that “largely surround” Solid Energy’s 2Mtpa coking coal Stockton mine.

Bathurst shares are up half a cent to 29.5c this morning.