Drilling at Churchill Mining’s East Kutai Coal Project in Indonesia has defined a coal-bearing sequence of up to 16.5km along strike.

It has defined a sequence of about 11.5km along strike from the north-northwest to the south-southeast of the property covering about 3489 hectares of the first target block, the RTM concession area, which represents the area of less than 10% of the four main coal target tenements.

A further 5km of strike potential of the present coal seams are indicated by geological mapping and will be tested before the concession boundary is reached. Additional outcrops have been mapped within the RTP concession area to the south of the RTM concession area.

The company’s initial 250 million tonne JORC compliant resource covers less than 6km of the potential strike length.

Ongoing drilling to the south of RTM continues to outline areas of thick coal seams with recent individual intercepts of up to 25 metres with additional coal outcrops in a new promising area with the potential to host Churchill’s second mine pit. A number of previous holes in the same area have intercepted this seam, with coal intercepts ranging between 18-21 metres.

Mapping has successfully located 304 coal outcrops and depending upon their location in the structure, the seams range in dip from a relatively flat 2 to 10 degrees.

The area chosen for initial JORC compliant drilling is defined by coal seams dipping up to a gentle 10 degrees and generally striking north-northwest to south-southeast from the western areas of the RP block extending southwards for 16.5km through the RTM concession and into the RTP concession.

A major regional anticline, trending north-northwest and immediately east of the current exploration area, is the main structural element in the area and the coal-bearing sediments are on the western flank of this anticline formed within a gentle syncline structure that is occasionally warped.

The coal in the area is described as sub-bituminous with a very low sulphur content and ash generally less than 5%. This type of coal is ideally suited to the new generation of power stations being built in rapidly developing economies such as India and China.

The coal that Churchill is expected to produce is now also finding strong demand in other markets, including Europe, where the low sulphur coals are being sought after for its lower environmental impact, suggesting growing demand for this type of coal in the future.

The company has three drill rigs on site with a fourth rig to be deployed to increase the rate of the exploration program.

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