Orpheus continues focus on RI coal
Tuesday, July 31 2012 - 01:49 PM WIB
Following its acquisition of a 50 percent interest at the Kintap ADK Project in the Tanah Laut Regency of South Kalimantan as of March 8, 2012, ASX listed Orpheus Energy Limited stated to ship and sell four coal barges carrying a total of approximately 33,453 tons of ADK thermal coal out of the SSDK port to an Indonesian trading group. Orpheus is entitled to 50% of the net profits from the ADK coal mine operations amounting to US$135,000 booked in this quarter.
The company, stated in its Activities Report for the Quarter ending June 30, 2012, that it has continued to focus on developing its portfolio of projects in Indonesia.
As announced on 28 March, 2012, an initial drilling program of 1000m was undertaken in the period, with a total of 9 holes. All holes intersected coal and confirmed the existence and consistent quality of the coal along strike with that coal currently being mined. A second drilling program will commence soon to provide additional data to delineate a JORC coal resource.
"An updated mine plan for the ADK mine will be implemented, to start following the unseasonal weather, with a planned production in rate of 50,000 tons per month at the project," the company said.
Orpheus has continued to work with its JV partner Mega Coal International, in identifying and investigating suitable near-term production and larger resource tenements for acquisition and development, in the South Kalimantan Kintap area.
East Kalimantan
Orpheus has two project areas in East Kalimantan - the B26 coking and thermal coal project (51% interest) and the B34 project (also 51% interest).
The B26, located some 100km from the regional centre of Balikpapan and 26km from a barge loading facility, targets a semi-soft coking and thermal coal production split of 15% and 85% respectively.
During the quarter, Orpheus was finalising negotiations on its B26 project and on 2 July 2012, Orpheus announced it had executed a life of mine Royalty Agreement with Indonesian mining contractor PT Debbia Mining. Under the agreement, Orpheus will receive US$8 per ton on all coal sales at the B26 project and is not responsible for any capital, operating, marketing or exploration expenses.
Mining equipment is already mobilised at site and B2 is scheduled to re-commence production in late August, targeting a rate of 30,000 tons per month.
With the announcement of the B26 royalty agreement, Orpheus? plan to undertake further exploration at the adjacent B6 tenement to delineate additional coal resources is no longer required, thereby saving costs for Orpheus. The B6 tenement is now in the final stages of securing its Exploitation IUP allowing the contractor to move the mining operation from B2 to B6 according to the updated mine plan.
The B34 project, located around 60km west of B26, comprises some 8,000 hectares of concession area, in which an exploration program plan has been completed and drilling is expected to commence by September 2012. As previously announced, it is ultimately planned for B34 coal to be mined using the same road/port infrastructure as for B26.
Papua
The company stated to have continued its exploration program plans for Papua over the period and expects to soon announce the details of the proposed field work and drilling activities in the greenfield exploration area, located within 40km of the Papuan coast.
Editing by Er Audy Zandri