Recent results confirm Uzgen Basin potential

The first ever coal quality results for drilling in the Kokkia area of Celsius Coal’s Uzgen Basin coking coal project have further improved the overall coking properties for the project.

Celsius has released coal quality data received from SGS Labs for 2013 drilling in the Kokkia area of the company’s Uzgen Basin project in the Central Kyrgyz Republic.

Celsius executive chairman, Alex Molyneux, commented: “Recognising the potential of the Kokkia area for coking coal we decided to do a significant amount of work there in the 2013 exploration season. The test results confirm our contention that the coking properties are even better on that side of the deposit so the work we did has certainly improved the quality of our Uzgen Basin Coking Coal Project. Integration of this work into our ongoing mining studies is underway, and the results are being communicated to potential off-take partners.”

Summary of results
Most sample results show Free Swell Index (FSI) numbers in the range of 7.5 – 9.5, indicating good coking potential. 60 of the 63 samples analysed from the drill holes show FSI levels greater than 4.5, which is typically assessed as a threshold for coking coal.

All coal samples also show very good thermal characteristics with high air dried gross calorific value, very low inherent moisture, and acceptable total sulphur.

Compared to neighbouring Kargasha, Kokkia’s FSI’s are on average 1.0 – 1.5 points higher. Sulphur content appears slightly higher than Kargasha, but previous Kargasha float/sink testing suggests sulphur levels can be reduced by coal washing. Given the locations of the drill holes, it suggests that the majority of the north of the Kokkia area has coking coal potential and trends suggest that coals to the south will produce similar results.

Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/mining/22012014/kokkia_results_confirm_uzgen_potential_438/