Recent drilling by QGX (QGX-T) on the the Baruun Naran project in the Gobi desert, 500 km south of the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, has intersected the thickest coal seam yet encountered on the project.
Hole 18, collared at the eastern end of the 10-km-long coal field, cut an estimated true thickness of 26.2 metres of net coal in the newly dubbed M seam. The intersection represents the down-dip extension of the metallurgical coal seam previously cut by hole no. 1 (estimated true thickness of 14.5 metres), about 140 metres to the south.
Seven other nearby holes yielded between 2 and 22 metres (estimated true thickness) of net coal. QGX says the drilling also intersected the down-dip extensions of seams N and O, which were also cut stratigraphically below seam M in hole no. 1. Metallurgical test work on material from the two lower seams in that hole indicated lower-grade coal. Test work has not yet been completed on the latest intercepts.
The company says the latest batch of holes also suggest that the seams form a shallow syncline. The thickest portion of seam M is located in the hinge of the fold. All three seams remain open along strike.
Meanwhile, a single hole designed to test a 12-metre-thick coal seam exposed in an exploration trench several kilometres to the west was abandoned owing to poor ground conditions and excessive water.
Encouraged by the latest results, QGX has added a third drill rig at Baruun Naran, with a fourth slated to arrive in September. An ongoing geophysical survey aimed at identifying coal seams and structural features beneath up to 10 metres of cover is yielding positive results.
Drilling on seam M and a metallurgical coal seam in the central portion of the coal field continues.
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