The document is a letter from Three Mountains Resources Pte. Ltd. to Xxxxxx Industries Limited regarding a coal mining project in Indonesia owned by Xxxxxx Mines & Minerals Ltd. It provides recommendations to improve the project for sale, including establishing legal title status as the mining license had expired, furnishing production history and exploration data as prior reports were outdated, and contracting an independent geologist to assess the project and establish an economic basis for evaluation.
2012, PRESENTATION, Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi JSC, Graeme Hancock
Example work sample RNChatterjee April 2015
1. Three Mountains Resources Pte. Ltd.
(Incorporated in the Republic of Singapore)
Company Registration No. 201105469C.
1 Raffles Place
#39-01 One Raffles Place
Singapore 048616
Tel: +65 6684 2852
Fax: +65 6684 2852
27 April 2015
Mr. Ranjit Gupta
For and on behalf of
Xxxxxx Industries Limited
Head Office
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Xxxxxxxx
Chennai 600xxx
INDIA
Dear Mr. Gupta
Thank you for introducing the opportunity to review and evaluate the Xxxxxx Mines &
Minerals Ltd (“Owner”) coal project (“Project”) in South Kalimantan, Indonesia.
After reviewing the reports included in your email dated 20 April 2015 and discussing the
project with you via Skype on 26 April 2015, I have made several points below to assist
Xxxxxx Mines & Minerals Ltd. prepare their coal project for immediate sale.
1. Establish Legal Title Status
According to the Xenith Consulting Report (“Xenith Report”), the IUP Operation and
Production Licence No.5xx/1x/IUPOP/D.PE/201x (“Lease”) held by Xxxxxx Mines &
Minerals Ltd.’s subsidiary, PT Xxxxxxxx Bxxxx Bxxxx, expired on 19 April 2015 (see
Xenith Report, p.1).
Evidence of the most recent legal title documents pertaining to the Lease is necessary for
a valuation. Please refer to Paragraph 67 from the “Code for the Technical Assessment
and Valuation of Mineral and Petroleum Assets and Securities for Independent Expert
Reports” by the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (“Valmin Code”):
67. The status of TenementsD37 is Material and requires disclosure.
Determination of the status of Tenements is necessary and must be
based on a recent independent inquiry, either by the Expert or a
Specialist or on a recent report by either a solicitor or a tenement
specialist who would qualify as being a “Specialist” as described in
Definition D10.
The Valmin Code can be freely downloaded from this link:
http://www.valmin.org/valmin_2005.pdf
2. Furnish a Record of Production History & Data
The Xenith Report provided was dated 7 April 2011 and the undated Xxxxxx Mines and
Minerals Ltd. Valuation Report (“Preliminary Valuation”) contains forecasted coal
production figures based on assumed production levels but I believe that no coal had been
mined prior to the writing of these reports. These reports are close to four years old and
2. Three Mountains Resources Pte. Ltd.
(Incorporated in the Republic of Singapore)
Company Registration No. 201105469C.
1 Raffles Place
#39-01 One Raffles Place
Singapore 048616
Tel: +65 6684 2852
Fax: +65 6684 2852
hence cannot be relied upon for valuation purposes (refer to Valmin Code, Paragraph 57).
It is my understanding from our discussions that coal contained within the Lease has in
fact been mined and sold commercially to a related-party group company subsequent to
the date that these reports were written. These changes are material to the value of coal
held within the Lease.
Furthermore, evidence of commercial coal sales transactions will establish an important
economic basis for a current valuation report. In Addition, record of any capital
expenditure at the site (e.g., a coal preparation plant), along with the procurement of a
production and sales history (with accompanying laboratory analyses) detailing location
of the selected coal blocks that were mined and sold via the mine plan, would be
necessary to establish realistic production tonnages possible from the existing Resource.
This would directly impact the asset’s future economic benefit. If no such data is
available, then the incoming geological consultant must: (i) determine the extent and
location of coal mined and what price was received for its sale; and (ii) adjust the
Resource figure by the amount of coal mined.
3. Furnish and Improve Record of Exploration History & Data
The Xenith Report confirms that coal resource exists in the northern 5km (north-south) x
2km (east-west) part of the Lease, which comprises 27% of the Lease area. The Xenith
Report dated 7 April 2011 confirms the Lease contained 30 million tonnes of coal in a
JORC-compliant Inferred Resource.
It is presumed that drilling-to-date was targeted around coal outcrops or lower-grade
outcropping carbonaceous sediments. If possible, the Owner should start a new, small-
scale in-fill drilling program with closer drillhole spacing (less than the current 250m
spacings, preferably at 100m spacings) and compile all historical geological and
geophysical data obtained by QMEC and other consultants to establish confidence in: (i)
the continuity of coal grade and geological structure between the drill holes; and (ii)
overall coal tonnage.
In addition, evidence of coal in the southern area of the Lease needs to be determined as a
priority. While the Xenith Report provides no evidence of coal outcrops in the south of
the Lease, it mentions work done by consultants, QMEC (as seen in Xenith Report, p.1),
which may contain such information. This is useful exploration data and would assist the
design of a small-scale drilling program in this new area. Furthermore, a
recommendation for a drilling program in the south of the Lease is also supported by
evidence of a regional anticline trending north-south (see Xenith Report, p.9) and no
major faulting in the Lease area (see Xenith Report, p.9). These are favourable
geological characteristics for coal to exist near the surface further south of the existing
coal resource.
If a drilling program in the southern lease area is within budget, any permits required (see
Xenith Report, p.25) must be applied for as soon as possible. Further drilling in the
southern part of the Lease would be required to significantly enlarge the coal resource. A
drilling program in the south of the Lease should include a mix of “step-out” holes from
the existing Resource and other targeted holes around the Lease as determined by the
3. Three Mountains Resources Pte. Ltd.
(Incorporated in the Republic of Singapore)
Company Registration No. 201105469C.
1 Raffles Place
#39-01 One Raffles Place
Singapore 048616
Tel: +65 6684 2852
Fax: +65 6684 2852
supervising geologist.
No data of neighbouring coal mining or exploration activity is available in the reports
supplied. This data would be useful to extrapolate or estimate depth and dip of any coal
seams in the southern part of the Lease and could have a material bearing on the Project’s
value (refer to Valmin Code, paragraph 72).
The elevation data of all drill holes and the resultant topographic model used in the
current Resource model is of low resolution and contains significant errors between
handheld GPS and ASTER/NASA elevation data (see Xenith Report, p. 15). Xenith
Consulting recommended commissioning a LIDAR survey for this purpose to achieve the
“required accuracy needed for a JORC compliant geological model” (see Xenith Report,
p.15). As an alternative, a potentially less expensive option would be to contract a
registered surveyor to survey the Lease area if possible. The surveyor should ascertain
accurate location and elevation information of: (i) the major coal outcrops; (ii) selected
major features of geological structure as advised by the supervising geological consultant;
and (iii) drill holes and surface samples. This should be completed as soon as possible.
Hence, improved topographic data along with closer drill hole spacing and more positive
drilling data from new areas could improve the coal resource model’s accuracy and
potentially enlarge the Resource and upgrade its classification from “Inferred” to
“Indicated”. This would have an immediate impact on the value of the Lease.
The Xenith Report mentions that sulphur is pyritic in nature (which is preferable) and
variable along the stratigraphy. Hence, another task that should be completed is the
mapping of sulphur by coal seam and drill hole from existing drill core logs and assays.
If drill cores have been stored, then a selection of holes can be re-assayed as
recommended by the supervising geologist to understand the variability of sulphur along
the stratigraphy and across the Lease. Since commercial coal shipments can be rejected
on the basis of exceeding contracted sulphur levels, sulphur-specific location data will
have a direct impact on the marketability of the coal to be mined and sold, and will also
affect the mining plan.
It is not known if a coal washability study has yet been completed on coal from the Lease.
Such a study is not absolutely necessary at this stage given that coal has already been sold
commercially. However, given the potential for a large upgrade to the coal resource, a
coal washability study would determine the processing and marketing options available to
the Owner. Processed bituminous coal should fetch a higher price in the market.
However, only a feasibility study can determine if the capital expenditure required for a
coal preparation plant is warranted on an economic basis.
4. Establish Basis for Economic Evaluation of the Project
It is recommended that the Owner urgently contracts a JORC-accredited competent
geologist (“Competent Person”, see JORC Code, 2012 Edition, Competence and
Responsibility, Sections 9,10 and 11) to visit site and review the complete data available
for the Project to make a current assessment of its value. Given that the mine has been in
operation since the last reports were prepared and the existing technical reports are very
much out-of-date, this is a priority item. Please refer to the Valmin Code paragraph 65
4. Three Mountains Resources Pte. Ltd.
(Incorporated in the Republic of Singapore)
Company Registration No. 201105469C.
1 Raffles Place
#39-01 One Raffles Place
Singapore 048616
Tel: +65 6684 2852
Fax: +65 6684 2852
on the need for a site inspection by the consultant geologist:
“…The decision whether or not to conduct such an inspection must
be made by the Expert or a Specialist and not by the Commissioning
Entity
An inspection should be made after the latest significant activity with
respect to the subject matter of the Report has taken place. It should
include any workings or treatment facilities such as a mine or process
plant and associated infrastructure...”
The Xxxxxx Mines & Minerals Coal Project shows promise but only a complete assessment
by a Competent Person can help to realize its full value. Furthermore, the Owner can greatly
expedite the due diligence process in anticipation of what a Competent Person would require
by offering ready access to the full scope of data, including reports and all raw data, pertinent
to the Project. This data should also include the information that I have addressed above in
points 1-4.
These recommendations have been given with careful consideration of the Owner’s budget.
If the costs of further drilling are out of budget, then the exercise of compiling exploration
and mining data, surveying drill hole and sample locations and elevations and a site visit
report by an accredited, independent geological consultant would minimize the cost to the
Owner. These tasks could be completed in a short period of time and would add significant
value to the Project.
I hope this preliminary project assessment is of use to Xxxxxx Mines & Minerals Ltd. I
would be pleased to discuss how our group could assist in the sale process of the Project at
the Owner’s convenience.
Yours sincerely
Rob Chatterjee
Director Business Development
For and on behalf of
THREE MOUNTAINS RESOURCES PTE. LTD. (Singapore)