AustChina Holdings has kicked off its 2023 exploration drilling program at the Blackall coal project, in the Eromanga Basin just south of the town of Blackall.

The company has a JORC-compliant inferred thermal coal resource of 1.3 billion tonnes at the site, which includes 30 million tonnes of indicated coal resource.

More than 800Mt of the overall resource is estimated to lie less than 50m from the surface.

The new drilling program is intended to increase the level of confidence in the resource, a necessary step to applying for a mineral development licence (rather than exploration permit) and future development of the project.

AusChina also aims to obtain additional samples that can be used for evaluating alternate uses for the coal through new processes or technologies other than traditional methods such as for use in coal-fired power stations.

The company has been investigating alternative technologies to utilise its coal on site, including work with Fortress Capital.

Related: AustChina explores energy avenues for Blackall coal

Drill Engineering and Pastoral Co (DEPCO) has been contracted to undertake the drilling program.

The exploration program is expected to cost about $390,000 (including land access, cultural heritage clearances, site safety and health requirements, earthworks, program management, drilling, geophysical logging, sample analysis and reporting, and geological interpretation).