The Company appointed SRK Consulting UK Ltd to carry out a Technical Feasibility Study to support the development of an open pit mine in Block VI. The feasibility study built on the previous work carried out and defined in detail:
The report confirmed the viability of developing an open pit mine in Block VI that could supply a mine mouth power plant and potentially other markets such as the cement industry.
The Company appointed Mott MacDonald from the UK in 2012 to carry out a pre feasibility study to assess the potential to develop a mine mouth power plant in Block VI to utilise the coal produced from the mine.
The report examined the coal quality and reviewed the potential power plant types and configurations that could be suitable for use with the coal from Block VI. The report confirmed that the coal was suitable for both a Pulverised Coal (PC) Plant and a Circulating Fluidised Bed Plant (CFB) and that the latter would be the better option for a low calorific value fuel. A 2x300MW configuration was proposed.
The report detailed:
The report was updated in 2013.