An explorer which has staked out the vast Ovoot coking coal basin in Mongolia, Aspire said the “leading coal consultancy firm” in China confirmed this blend would be considered a primary coking coal by Chinese steelmakers.
“The Mongolian blend is considered similar or even better than those primary coking coals imported into the China market from countries like Australia, the US and Canada, due to its medium ash, low sulphur and high G value,” Aspire said.
Aspire said the blend consisted of between 25-50% of Ovoot indicative coking coal with the balance being thermal and non-coking coals.
The explorer aims to haul Ovoot coal via the expanding Mongolian rail network for blending operations at a proposed industrial park in Sainshand, 240km from the Mongolian-Chinese border.
“From Sainshand, the Mongolian blend can then be transported by the Trans-Mongolian Railway to the Chinese border for sale to Chinese customers,” Aspire said.
“The Trans-Mongolian Railway is currently undergoing a capacity expansion to 34 million tonnes per annum, with future plans to see this increase further to 100Mtpa.”
Mongolian coal miner South Gobi Resources bought a 9.026% stake of Aspire in late October.
Aspire is initially targeting 5 million tonnes per annum of coking coal production at Ovoot in 2018 and had been granted a mining licence for the project more than two years ago.
