The JORC-compliant marketable reserve for EPC 891 now stands at 153.5 million tonnes, up from 102.6Mt.

The increase in resources forms part of an underground longwall mine designed by independent mining consultants Minecraft Consulting.

The latest increase in reserves are underpinned by a recent updated total JORC-compliant resource of 490.5Mt for the project.

Bandanna managing director Michael Gray welcomed the announcement which he said was another significant step in the development of Springsure Creek.

“The progression of mine development plans, in combination with our secured infrastructure capacity, ensures that Bandanna is poised to become Australia’s next coal producer,” he said.

Bandanna now has a total of 1650Mt of JORC-compliant resources and 306.6Mt of marketable reserves in its project portfolio

Three drill rigs are currently operating at Springsure Creek, with the aim of further upgrading the resource and collecting geotechnical data to assist in mine development planning.

Springsure Creek has already obtained 4 million tonnes per annum of port capacity at the Wiggins Island coal export terminal.

In addition, Bandanna said it had fully contracted its port-rail supply chain solution for exports from mid-2014.

Springsure Creek is targeting two longwall operations for 11Mtpa, while its Arcturus thermal coal project is targeting 5Mpta of product coal through open cut and underground mining by 2014.