August 25, 2015
The Board of Directors of Moreton Resources will decide within the next few weeks whether or not to proceed with the next stage of its coal mine project near Kingaroy.
Moreton Resources CEO Jason Elks told southburnett.com.au the next step was a formal pre-feasibility study which could cost the company between $500,000 and $2 million to complete.
This study would take up to six months.
At the end of this, Moreton Resources hopes to have a document that would prove that it has a viable product to offer.
“We will come up with a final figure, and final quality. Then ‘someone’ has something to consider …” he said.
Mr Elks said that unless Moreton could prove its coal would be a cheaper and better alternative (to coal already available to Tarong power station), the project would not proceed.
“But we believe we have a quality asset,” he said.
“If we have nowhere else to sell it and we are about to spend a lot of money, it shows we have a lot of faith in this project.”
If the mine goes ahead, it would most likely be located on part of Moreton Resources’ licence area which is owned by Stanwell.
The rehabilitation of the former Cougar Energy underground coal gasification area is all but finished.
Mr Elks said the dams and dam linings had been removed, the land re-shaped and all metal and concrete removed.
The original footprint of 45ha has been reduced to just 1ha, which is basically and office and shed for Moreton staff to use during the development of the coal project.
The 54 wells linked to the project have been cut back to seven, and Moreton were negotiating with the State Government to reduce this to three.
Old wells have been concreted and capped 2m under the soil surface with a metal plate that explains the history of the site.
Mr Elks said he would invite a local community group to assist with the re-seeding of the land as a fund-raiser later this year.
Earlier this month, Moreton Resources announced a new company structure which basically split its three current projects into three fully-owned subsidiary companies.
Mr Elks said the new structure gave Moreton more flexibility as it moves ahead, plus an ability to offer equity in individual projects to potential investors.
Related articles:
- Moreton Resources Splits Off South Burnett Holdings
- Moreton Resources Extends Licence
- Controversial UCG Plant Vanishes
- UCG Plant Starts To Disappear
- Moreton To Begin Mine Concept Study
- Moreton Responds To MP’s Comments
- Moreton Aims To Press On
- Stanwell ‘Rejecting Billions In Savings’
- Stanwell Rules Out Moreton Coal
- ‘Enough Coal For 30-Plus Years’
- Concept Study Next Step For Proposed Coal Mine
- Moreton Triples Coal Estimates
- Coal Mine Review Delayed To July
