Executive director Pat Hanna said an independent assessment undertaken by SRK consulting stated the tenement was prospective for both low volatile pulverised coal injection coal and coking coal.

Drilling results to date will allow Cokal to provide an estimated coal resource by the end of the third quarter.

Cokal executive chairman Peter Lynch said the results, which were JORC compliant, were positive for the company and highlighted the potential role Indonesia is set to play in coal exports.

Indonesia is set to be the largest exporter of thermal coal globally.

“These laboratory results conducted in Australia by ALS confirm that we have premium metallurgical coal at the BBM project,” Lynch said.

“Independent marketing advice we have received supports our belief that these coals will be highly sought after due to their attractive attributes and we believe they will be keenly sought after to complement other coals becoming popular in modern coke making blends,” Lynch added.

Cokal acquired Indonesian drilling contractor Kasam to drill at the BBM project, with mapping of the project commencing back in January this year.

Much of the BBM lease which sits immediately adjacent to BHP Billiton’s Joloi tenement near the Barito River has had little exploration activity prior to Cokal’s involvement in the tenement.

Additional rigs have been provided at the BBM project, bringing the total number of rigs onsite to three.

The company plans to add more drill rigs and hopes to shortly begin drilling at its nearby Borneo Bara Prima project.