Exploration drilling complete at Elko project

The successful completion of the 2018 drilling programme is the first substantial exploration activity at Elko for over 30 years and demonstrates the company’s ability to safely execute a complex project on time and on budget.

The PAK management team has demonstrated its skills and ability to deliver future phases of the development by completing:

• 3451 m of drilling and other exploration activities without any lost time injuries.
• All regulatory approvals required to drill in British Columbia.
• Additional environmental studies including water sampling and Archaeological studies.
• A second coal seam mapping programme in the eastern and central coal blocks.
• An exploration programme designed to provides greater certainty to the 257 million t, JORC 2012 resource.
• Construction of access roads and infrastructure necessary to operate at the project site.
• Manage and implement appropriate drilling techniques to deliver the project objectives.

Objectives

The drilling programme was designed to confirm the geological continuity of the highest value coal seams across the Western coal license (number 418648) and into the Central coal license (number 418650). This programme has also enabled the company to recover numerous coal samples and will assist with the delineation of localised structural trends. Where practical, drilling also targeted the lower coal seams to confirm the contiguous nature of all six known coal seams at Elko.

Exploration programme highlights

The drilling locations were designed to access the site along the top of the escarpment and intersect the high value coal seams previously mapped by PAK and identified by BC Coal Ltd that are contained within the Mist Mountain Member of the Kootenay formation.

The drill rig performed as expected with the deepest of the holes at DH_18_09 reaching over 455 m from the top of the escarpment. The depths required to reach the lower coal seams from the surface are not indicative of the required depths during the mining phase. Access to the coal is likely to be via traditional underground mining methods accessed from the outcropping seams along the escarpment.

A total of 3451 m of drilling was completed during the 2018 drilling programme. Drilling focused on the targeting the high value coal seams, being seams 4 - 7. This drilling programme will support previous exploration activity so as to better define the Elko 257MT JORC 2012 compliant resource.

Pacific American Coal Chairman, Geoff Hill, said: “Completion of this phase of the exploration and evaluation process at Elko is a significant milestone for what is shaping up as potentially a world class coking coal asset. We have now proven we can successfully gain the necessary regulatory approvals, access the site, and through drilling, identify substantial amounts of coal on the property. Once we have the results from the analysis of the coal extracted, we will be in an excellent position to continue the process we have commenced to attract off-take and funding partners.

We have now demonstrated our ability to deliver a successful drilling campaign, on time, in line with budget and most importantly without any lost time injuries. Along with the other initiatives we are undertaking at PAK, we believe we are creating significant value for shareholders”.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/exploration-and-development/11102018/exploration-drilling-complete-at-elko-project/