Vancouver – More than doubling the previous tonnage estimate, QGX (QGX-T, QGXLF-O) has tabled a revised resource tally for its Baruun Naran coal deposit in the Gobi region of southern Mongolia.
Measured and indicated resources in the deposit now stand at 252.9 million tonnes of both coking and thermal coal, up significantly from the 107.5 million tonnes tabled one year ago.
Much of this additional tonnage has been derived from coal which had been intersected in previous drilling but had insufficient intersections or associated coal-quality data to be included in the previous resource estimation, explained QGX president and CEO Paul Zweng.
The resource is contained in a number of major coal seams hosted within the Permian sedimentary basin environment. Baruun Naran is in a 22-km long northeast-southwest striking valley extending westwards from the large Tavan Tolgoi basin located about 20 km away. Tavan Tolgoi, held by a Mongolian consortium, is estimated to host about 5 billion tonnes of coal resource, with a significant portion being metallurgical grade and potentially open-pittable.
Drilling within the Baruun Naran valley has tested multiple 2-18 metre thick coal seams in the Tavan Tolgoi Formation that has a stratigraphic thickness of more than 800 metres.
QGX is undertaking marketing, transportation and economic assessment studies and intends to launch a pre-feasibility study by July.
We are doing all we can to advance the project to production as rapidly as possible; and we will be striving to complete the pre-feasibility study before year end, continued Zweng.
Involved in Mongolia since the mid-1990s, QGX acquired its licence for Baruun Naran in late-2002 and commenced work programs in early-2005. The company now has over 350 holes completed on the deposit.
In addition to its coal project, QGX also has the Golden Hills gold-silver-copper project in western Mongolia where it completed a positive preliminary economic assessment earlier this year.
Barrick Gold (ABX-T, ABX-N) holds about a 9% interest in QGX.
Shares of the aspiring coal miner gained 25 on the resource news to close at $3.15 apiece.
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