Vista’s prefeasibility study, which is expected to be completed in the next few weeks, will incorporate the resource upgrade and is expected to show an increased production rate, longer mine life and mining synergies on the project, Coalspur managing director and chief executive Gene Wusaty said.

“The upgrade is a further testament to the size and quality of the Vista coal project and places the resource base of Coalspur in the top tier of emerging global coal developers,” he said.

“This upgraded resource will be incorporated into the final mine planning being conducted on the project in the PFS and we are excited about the potential of developing one of the largest export coal projects in North America.”

The resource upgrade was based on refined geological reinterpretation of a combined geological model and inclusion of the Silkstone seam.

The company’s coal resource now totals more than 1.37Bt of low-sulfur, high-volatile bituminous, export-quality thermal coal, with Vista accounting for 1.2Bt and the Vista South project accounting for 168.3Mt.

The upgraded coal resource is shallow, with the primary seams ranging in depth from surface to 255m inside the mine design area and with a gentle average dip of 7 degrees.

Vista has 20 kilometres of continuous low dipping strike and access to an under-utilised port and adjacent rail. Coal Resources

Further resource drilling programs are under way to expand the resource over Coalspur’s 32,000-hectare coal lease position in the Hinton region of West Central Alberta.

Coalspur’s shares were up by 3.5c to $1.305 in morning trade.