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Canada Coal to proceed with drill program Coal exploration and development company gears up for drilling after successful exploration program at Fosheim Peninsula coal propertyThandiwe Vela Northern News Services Published Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012
The roughly $3.7-million program this summer focused on identifying priority drill targets at the company's Fosheim coal exploration licence -- which is estimated to have between 22 to 30 billion tonnes of inferred coal resources -- in anticipation of a potential $15-million diamond drill program in 2013, said Braam Jonker, Canada Coal chief executive officer and president. The six-week summer exploration program was a success, Jonker said, with more than 100 coal beds assessed in the Fosheim Peninsula project area -- identifying "extensive zones" of low-sulphur, low-ash, lignite and bituminous thermal coal and confirming multiple, high-quality thermal coal deposits on its Nunavut Coal Property. The company received all required permits to conduct its exploration program this summer, but is still working on more detailed studies before applying for permitting to conduct drilling next year, Jonker said. "It's certainly the intention of the company to proceed with a drilling program," he said, adding that this summer's mapping and sampling work was conducted to "optimize" a future drilling program. "The purpose of the mapping study is to optimize the drilling program -- basically to identify drilling targets, therefore you spend your drilling money much wiser," Jonker said. "We were able to identify and get more information on potential drilling targets and we are planning a drilling program around that." Canada Coal's Nunavut Coal Property is comprised of 75 coal exploration licences on Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg islands in the High Arctic. The licences cover nearly 2.5 million acres. Historical exploration work on the Fosheim Peninsula property was conducted by Petro-Canada, Gulf Canada, Hunter Exploration, and other energy companies, including Vancouver-based Weststar Resources Corporation -- whose proposal for a coal exploration on Ellesmere Island was not accepted by the Nunavut Impact Review Board in 2010, because of the potential negative impacts on the area's ecosystem, economy, and fossil beds. Canada Coal, which bought the coal assets from Weststar, is conducting more detailed studies than what was previously done, Jonker said. The company included a paleontologist and archeologist "heritage team" in its crew for the Fosheim summer exploration program, which also included two teams of geologists, and a geophysics team. "We're doing things properly," Jonker said. "We're doing consulting with the community, we're doing consulting with the regulating authorities, we've been in contact with them and we're doing everything according to the book." A detailed ice study and analysis of marine accessibility of Ellesmere Island's West Fosheim Peninsula was recently completed for Canada Coal. The findings of the ice and marine shipping assessment in relation to ice conditions determined shipping windows of two, three, and six months, using Polar Class 3 ice class vessels, to transport up to 5.25 million tonnes per year. Factors that have prompted Canada Coal to advance the coal project include increased coal prices to justify higher capital expenditures on the project compared to five to 10 years ago, and improved technology such as larger equipment that allows coal to be extracted at a larger scale, and advances in underground mining, Jonker said. The company is also examining the potential for thermal coal from its Arctic coal licences as a solution for Nunavut's energy challenges, he added. The company is in the process of finalizing its applications for a summer 2013 drill program at its Nunavut Coal Property. Vancouver-based Canada Coal Inc. is traded on the TSX-Venture Exchange.
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