The project holds a JORC-compliant initial measured resource at 3.1 million tonnes, with a further 3.2Mt of indicated resources and approximately 5Mt of inferred resources.

Haddington said the coal is high energy, with the thicker seam averaging 7300 kilocalories per kilogram, and low ash at 1.6%.

The initial exploration involved 12,904m of opencut drilling and 105m of core drilling, confirming the existence of eight separate coal seam intervals that extend along a 14km strike.

Haddington said it would move to incorporate the resource and coal data into a feasibility study for development of the project to production.

If proven feasible, Haddington predicted production at Tabalong by early 2010.