Perth-based Yari Minerals is adding an inferred resource of 78.9Mt of high calorific value coal in the Bowen Basin to its portfolio of exploration assets.

The company today announced a deal to acquire Rolleston South coal project owner Resource Chain, subject to due dilligence.

It said its initial focus was to finalise key targets for an inaugural drilling campaign and produce a semi-soft metallurgical coal product.

“The acquisition of the Rolleston South coal project meets the stringent investment criteria set by Yari to identify and acquire a JORC-compliant mineral resource in a Tier 1 jurisdiction that is capable of rapid advance to resource growth and future development scenarios,” managing director Anthony Italiano said.

“On completion, Yari will commence a review of the resource model to incorporate additional data from coal seam gas wells whilst concurrently planning to commence a drilling program to complete this year to both grow the mineral resource outside the current resource envelope and complete infill drilling to increase the resource categorisation.”

The Rolleston South coal project is situated near Glencore’s Rolleston open-cut coal mine and the Meteor Downs South underground coal mine operated by UDC Mining/Sojitz Blue.

Yari said previous exploration work at the project delineated six coal seams, which were yet to be fully developed, underpinning the Rolleston South project’s significant exploration upside.

Consideration for the acquisition includes a total of 119,560,669 shares in Yari (representing a 19.9 per cent stake) and an additional 86,045,322 performance rights with a vesting criterion on declaration of a JORC inferred coal resource greater than 100Mt.