20 March 2018
Altona Energy
plc
(“Altona” or “the Company”)
Proposed Drilling
Programme
Altona (AIM: ANR) is pleased to announce that, following the
appointment of Mr Brenton Newell, as
Consulting Geologist to the Company, on 26
February 2018, an initial review of the existing drilling
data relating to the Westfield Tenement (EL 5676) has now been
completed.
Mr Newell has prepared a costed exploration programme, based on
the identification of any shallow coal seams amenable to open cut
mining. The programme will be conducted over three phases:
-
Initial Exploration
-
JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimate definition
-
Bankable Feasibility Study
During the course of his review Mr Newell identified a number of
previous drill targets that have not been subject to modern
exploration. This includes an area identified by BP Minerals in the
southwest of the Westfield Tenement which, along with an
appreciation of the area’s geology, has allowed a comprehensive
drill programme to be designed. As a result, the Company is now
able to estimate the costs associated with the three phases of the
proposed programme, which may be subject to revision following the
result of each phase:
Initial Exploration |
AUD 230,000 |
JORC compliant Mineral
Resource Estimate definition |
AUD 400,000 |
Bankable Feasibility |
AUD 900,000 |
|
|
Total |
AUD 1,530,000 |
Therefore, the total estimated cost of exploration is
significantly lower than previously anticipated, due in main to the
targeting of shallow coal seams which are thought to be relatively
flat lying. As a result, the amount of drilling required to provide
an accurate estimate of the coal resource potentially available to
be extracted is anticipated to be much less than was previously
projected.
Mr Newell will conduct some further analysis of the drilling
data to ensure all the available information has been reviewed.
Following this, the Company will commence preparation for the
Initial Exploration phase; details of which will be announced to
the market in due course.
Nick
Lyth, CEO of Altona, commented:
“I am delighted that Mr Newell has delivered such a
comprehensive, detailed exploration programme showing the necessary
future expenditure to be of a far more modest nature than
previously expected.
“We will proceed with the planning of the Initial Exploration
phase imminently, and I will travel to Adelaide in April to meet with Mr Newell and
Euro Exploration Services, our engineering consulting partner.
“Further, our joint venture partners, Sino-Aus Energy Group and
Wintask remain enthusiastic about the project and have agreed to
join the meetings in Adelaide to
participate in the programme discussions.”
Nick Lyth will be hosting a live
shareholder Q&A webcast on Thursday, 22 March. To register for
the event and see more details of how to participate, please
visit:
www.alics.co.uk/altonaenergy/
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.
-ends-
For further information, please visit www.altonaenergy.com or
contact:
Altona Energy
plc
Nicholas Lyth, Chief Executive Officer |
+44 7769 906 686 |
Leander (Financial
PR)
Christian Taylor- Wilkinson |
+44 7795 168 157 |
Northland Capital
Partners Ltd (Nomad and Broker)
Matthew Johnson / Gerry Beaney (Corporate Finance)
John Howes (Corporate Broking) |
+44 20 3861 6625 |
About Altona Energy
Altona is listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM
market. Its principal focus is on the evaluation and
development of the Company’s flagship Arckaringa Project to exploit
the significant coal seams contained in three exploration licences
in the northern portion of the Permian Arckaringa Basin in
South Australia.