Project Overview
The West Rolleston Project is situated in Central Queensland. The tenements are in the north east of the Eromanga Basin, the north of the Surat Basin, the west of the Bowen Basin and the east of the Galilee Basin, to the south of the Barcaldine Ridge. Each of these four (4) sedimentary basins contains multiple coal-bearing formations of proven economic interest. The Active Native Land Rights claim over the Project is held by the Bidjara People. CMR completed an ‘Exploration Cultural Heritage Clearance Agreement’ with the Bidjara People on November 1, 2011 which will allow exploration activities to take place.
Previous Exploration
There has been extensive exploration for petroleum and coal seam gas previously conducted to the east and west of the West Rolleston Project area. 8 petroleum wells with accompanying seismic surveys, 14 coal seam gas wells, 13 Geological Survey of Queensland (GSQ) / Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR) stratigraphic boreholes and 28 waterbores with coal intersection have been recorded within or close to the Project area.
Exploration Target
There are potential targets in multiple coal-bearing formations throughout the West Rolleston Project. These include the Winton Formation (Late Cretaceous), the Evergreen Formation (Early Jurassic), the Westbourne Formation (Late Jurassic – Injune Creek Group) and the Birkhead Formation (Middle Jurassic – Injune Creek Group) of the Eromanga Basin; the Bandanna Formation (Late Permian) of the Bowen Basin; and the Moolayember Formation (Middle Triassic), the Bandanna Formation equivalent (Late Permian) and the Aramac Coal Measures (Early Permian) of the Galilee Basin.
Exploration Program
Exploration has been divided into two (2) exploration zones that can be run either simultaneously or as two distinct programs. An Initial Scout Program of 25 boreholes and an 87km 2D Seismic Survey will be used to audit the results of CMR’s Geologist Statement. Following favourable results from the scout program a further 92 boreholes in a tight grid drilling program has been planned over Exploration Zone 1. Data acquired during the full exploration program will be used for geological, hydrogeological, geotechnical and coal quality evaluation of the tenured coal resource and as an input into mine planning and prefeasibility study.
Proximity to Infrastructure
The most cost effective transport solution for reasonable range of mine output tonnages would be to link to the Bauhinia Coal Rail System near the Xstrata’s Rolleston Mine. This is the closest existing rail system (65km). A more direct rail route via Moura requires a much longer rail spur line, which would be viable with high tonnages to reduce unit costs. Port options in the Gladstone Region include the RG Tanna Coal Terminal, the Barney Point Coal Terminal, Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal (WICET), and the proposed Balaclava Island Coal Terminal and Fitzroy Coal Terminal.