Coalbank (CBQ)

Shares / Stock Code

CBQ

Stock Exchange / Sharemarket

ax

Coalbank (CBQ) is an energy company focusing on coal and coal seam gas in Queensland’s Surat and Clarence-Moreton Basins. Lodestone also has interests in other minerals projects other than energy. Coalbank was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on 17 March 2003.

Coalbank plans to build an energy business supplying low carbon emission coals from south and central Queensland to domestic and export markets. The company also has petroleum and gas interests through its wholly-owned subsidiary Surat Gas Pty Limited.

Coalbank's major energy projects are hosted in the Walloon Coal Measures and are within practical reach of existing infrastructure. The Tambo Project is in the Western Surat Basin between Roma and Tambo. The Moreton Energy Coal Project is in the Clarence-Moreton Basin near Beaudesert.

These projects are aimed at developing energy sources which emit fewer greenhouse gases than many other coals.

Walloon coals contain appreciably less carbon and more organically bound hydrogen than most thermal coals. These produce less carbon dioxide when burned. Further coal exploration projects are located in central and southeast Queensland.

Tambo Coal and Gas Project
The Tambo Coal and Gas Project tenements cover an extensive area – more than 400 kilometres from west of Roma to Blackall in Queensland. Coalbank has commenced an exploration campaign within the Western Surat Basin. The Basin is expected to host Walloon Coal Measures.  These coals have potential for the thermal coal market.

The improving fundamentals of CSG markets have altered the economic landscape and warranted a renewed interest in the region. Coalbank anticipates that the Tambo prospect could become a source of CSG for export LNG plants and the domestic market. Early cash flow from CSG revenues can provide earlier returns on the Company’s investment in the province, or be used to offset capital costs associated with development of a large export thermal coal mining operation when sufficient coal resources are proven.

Coalbank tenures predominantly are pastoral areas and lie to the west of the bulk of cropping land regarded as strategic to the State. The company will also investigate commercial opportunities for beneficial use of associated water co-produced during the production of CSG. Such uses may include using this water for coal washing, power station cooling, agriculture, and potable water. Although water from coal seams is brackish, it is relatively clean, having been carbon-filtered within coal seams over many years. Technology is currently available to desalinate the water. Accordingly, the possible scale and scope of the Tambo Coal & Gas Project is likely to present significant efficiency benefits and economies of scale.

Coalbank will acquire baseline groundwater data as part of its development of specific water management objectives to allow for sustainable future operations.

Tenure Details
Following the acquisition of Tambo Coal & Gas Pty Limited Coalbank now controls the following granted coal exploration permits:

EPC 1414, 1415, 1417, 1418, 1481, 1482, 1484, 1621, 1622, 1623, 1624,1625, 1632, 1633,1644, 1697, 1719, 1776, 1777, 1784, 1786, 1788, 1789, 1794, 1795, 1800, 1993.

Petroleum & gas holdings include ATP 1020 (held by Tambo Coal & Gas Pty Ltd, a Coalbank subsidiary).

ATP applications 1072,1095 and 1098 (held by Surat Gas Pty Ltd, a Coalbank subsidiary).
Surat Gas Pty Limited is the preferred tenderer for the latter three ATPs under the Queensland Government Round 6 Petroleum Land Area tender. ATP 1020 will be transferred to Surat Gas Pty Limited.

Western Surat Basin
Coalbank has identified numerous significant coal intersections in water-bores across the tenements which are clearly much higher in the sequence than the Birkhead Formation.
Coalbank considers that they demonstrate the presence of a hitherto unrecognised lateral equivalent of the Upper Walloon sequence ( the Juandah Coal Measures) in a region where conventional interpretations have the prospective Walloon Coal Measures thinning westward across the Nebine Ridge and grading laterally into the Birkhead Formation.

The company is also encouraged by the significant thicknesses of coal rich intervals reported from both Upper and Lower Walloons.

Moreton Coal Project
Following the acquisition of Moreton Energy Pty Ltd Coalbank has four tenements in the Clarence-Moreton Basin containing identified Walloon Coal Measures that remain relatively under-explored. All four tenements are strategically located on railway infrastructure connected with Brisbane and good road access. Initial drill results from the Moreton Project have been assessed and final coal core analysis results are being interpreted. The four tenement areas are described below.

Veresdale Scrub (EPC 1302)
Prior exploration between 1978 and 1992 by New Hope Corporation identified an in situ tonnage of 28.2 million tonnes of thermal coal outcropping on the eastern limb of the Logan Sub-Basin at Veresdale Scrub from a depth of 12m to 100m. It is estimated that approximately 60% of this deposit lies within EPC 1302.

Strathnaver Colliery/Bromelton Prospect (EPC 1299)
Bromelton is located on the western flank of the Logan Sub-Basin where the Walloon Coal Measures crop out, possibly at shallow depths.

Albert River Prospect (EPC 1313)
The Walloon Coal Measures are known to crop out in the headwaters of the Albert River in the south-east corner of EPC 1313 where they occupy an erosional window in the volcanic cover at the foot of the Lamington Ranges.

Rathdowney/Palen Creek (EPC 1524)
Rathdowney lies 30km to the southwest of Beaudesert in southeast Queensland. The area contains sediments of the Walloon Coal Measures on the eastern flank of the South Moreton Anticline.

Mount Morgan District Project
The wholly owned Mount Morgan District Project is centred on the historic gold mining town of the same name, 50 kilometres south-west of Rockhampton, Queensland.
Coalbank now holds around 400 square kilometres as one single Exploration Permit for Minerals (EPM) - EPM17850, in the Mount Morgan District. This new tenement consolidates tenure over ground previously held under a number of EPMs.

Limestone Creek Project
Coalbank is exploring for large copper-gold orebodies in the Chillagoe Formation, 200 km north-west of Cairns, Queensland. This narrow fault-bounded belt of sedimentary and volcanic rocks hosts orebodies at Mungana, Red Dome and Mount Garnet.

Coalbank Copper-Gold Discovery
Coalbank made a fresh copper-gold discovery at the northern end of the Chillagoe Formation on Palmerville Station in 2007. Coalbank is conducting exploration activities aimed at developing the potential of this copper-gold discovery. Coalbank is searching for Red Dome and Mungana-style and scale orebodies.

Future of Mineral Projects
Opportunities for farm-out of the Mount Morgan and Chillagoe District Projects will also be considered during the 2011-12 year.

Previous Company Name: Lodestone Energy Limited