ASX-listed coal explorer Hunnu Coal on Wednesday reported that it had started trial mining at the Unst Khudag coal mine, in Mongolia.
The trial opencut operation would produce an initial supply of coal for bulk test work, and for delivery to potential offtake partners for independent test work.
Hunnu said in a statement that the trial mine would also deliver important geotechnical and hydrological data, which would be used in the modelling of a much larger upscaled opencut mine.
Offtake agreements were currently being negotiated with both Mongolian and Chinese thermal coal users, said Hunnu.
Meanwhile, an extensive drilling programme has recently started with the aim of generating an initial Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (Jorc-) compliant resource during the coming months.
The Unst Khudag project has an exploration target of between 250-million tons and 500-million tons, and coal analysis has revealed a high-quality thermal coal product.
Two drilling rigs were now operating on the current drilling site, with further drilling rigs being sourced to fast-track the exploration programe.