The company’s key Acland open cut mine, which was isolated by rail between January and late March because of the flooding events earlier this year, holds 855Mt of resources including 410Mt measured and 435Mt in the indicated category.

This mine also hosts the bulk of the company’s reserves with a total of 492Mt, including 303Mt of proved coal reserves.

The company’s Lenton project holds 52Mt of reserves including 21Mt in the proved category.

Last week New Hope agreed to sell 10% of this project to Mai-Liao Power Corporation, a member of the Formosa Plastics Group of Taiwan, for $A58.4 million if at least 200Mt of resources were calculated in the Lenton project area.

New Hope’s latest resource upgrade reveals the project has 282Mt of resources including 53Mt measured.

However, the transaction and associated joint venture arrangements with MPC remain subject to federal government approval.

New Hope’s Bee Creek project holds 104Mt of indicated resources while its Jandowae project hosts a total of 157Mt of resources including 119Mt indicated.

The company-wide resources upgrades resulted from exploration drilling, additional 2D and 3D seismic data and re-modelling of the geological data.

New Hope also owns an 80.81% stake in Queensland coal explorer Northern Energy Corporation.

NEC’s Elimatta open cut project in the Surat Basin hosts 106Mt of marketable reserves with mine construction slated for late 2011.

New Hope shares were up 1.2% to $5.21 in early afternoon trading.