West emerald

The West Emerald coal project located in the coal rich Bowen Basin Region of Queensland, 25 kilometres north west of Emerald, is being developed by CuestaCoal. CuestaCoal is an Australian coal exploration company that has Chinese state owned energy investment company, Beijing Guoli, as its major shareholder through Beijing Guoli's fully owned Australian subsidiary, Longluck Investments (Australia) Pty Ltd.

West Emerald Project Close to the Valeria and Taroporah Deposits
The West Emerald project is being developed close to the major coal deposits Valeria, that is owned by Rio Tinto, and Taroborah. The close proximity to the town of Emerald means that should the project continue through to the production stage there will be a significant pool of skilled mining workers to draw from. The Kestral coal mine, that is currently producing over 4.2 million tonnes of thermal and coking coal that is exported out of the Gladstone port, is located 35 kilometres to the east of the West Emerald Project. The coal production at the Kestral mine is presently being increased to over five million tonnes a year.

Historical Drilling Results Used to Determine Feasibility of the West Emerald Project
Historical drilling records in the West Emerald project site has shown the results of 11 drill holes in the north east corner of the project, all have intersected coal down to the 150 metre level. CuestaCoal believes this coal seam will remain open to both the south and west of the identified deposit. The company has also acquired aeromagnetic and open file gravity data to facilitate the process of identifying any previously undiscovered coal bearing basins within its tenement areas.

Scout Drilling to Take Place at the West Emerald Project in 2013
A full assessment of the aeromagnetic and gravity data has identified gravity infill areas that CuestaCoal will undertake in mid 2013. This process will identify target areas for the company that will allow it to proceed with scout drilling later in the year. Scout drilling to determine the resource will traverse with drill holes to a depth of 300 metres with a spacing of one kilometre.

Coal Intersected at West Emerald in the 1960's
Coal was first intersected in the West Emerald CuestaCoal tenement area during the latter part of the 1960's with exploration focused on defining the resource of earlier discoveries of thick seams of coking coal. This period of exploration also included scout drilling with numerous coal intersections being encountered. These were primarily obtained to the south and north of the Taroborah coal deposit and south of the Valeria deposit. Historical records suggest most of the coal seams will produce a quality PCI and thermal coal suitable for the export market. Other seams, particularly the Anakie and Capella seams at the Valeria deposit are suitable for marketing as coking coal.

Stratigraphic data at the West Emerald project indicates the Reids Dome Beds have no less than 12 individual coal seams. Historical data suggests these deposits have been poorly explored in the past when compared to the Rangals and German Creek/Moranbah Coal Measures. This means the Reids Dome Beds have a highly prospective opportunity. It is appearing these coal seams are able to be divided into lower and upper coal measures separated by around 250 metres of sediment. Drill testing was completed in this area in the mid 1960's to mid 1970's.
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