The stratigraphy of the coal reported in the resource correlated well with regional stratigraphy that had been previously published for the Galilee Basin, proving similar to that defined at Adani’s Carmichael deposit and Hancock’s Alpha deposit, the company said.

Open hole drilling on EPC1260 has intersected significant coal seams with an interpreted thickness ranging from 12.53m to 15.88m of net coal from the Permian Betts creek beds across three main seams.

“Importantly, the inferred resource includes coal that could be amenable to open cut mining methods,” the company said.

“Further drilling will continue up dip towards the interpreted sub crop of the Betts Creek Beds Coal Seams to expand the potential open cut resources.”

The target product quality for the White Mountain project is to be confirmed by further analysis, including analysis of working sections and washability testing.

Based on results to date, an export thermal coal with moderate ash, moderate calorific value and low sulfur appeared achievable, Guildford said.