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Blackham Resources is hoping to gain export capacity via the port’s proposed 20Mtpa expansion from its current 11Mtpa.
The total coal resource at Scaddan, 60km north of Esperance, is 1.4 billion tonnes and has the potential for both coal export and a coal-to-liquids facility.
Scaddan has a low average strip ratio of 3.2 bank cubic metres per tonne using dragline waste removal methods.
During the December 2011 quarter, Blackham completed a scoping study for the export of coal from Scaddan, which detailed two possible export options.
Option one would include the production of 8Mtpa of coal from the mine with Blackham funding its additional port capital requirements.
The second option was for an infrastructure group to fund the port capital requirements.
“Blackham is in discussions with the Esperance port and other infrastructure providers with a view to being export ready when the new capacity is available,” the company said.
