ROCKLANDS RICHFIELD LIMITED - ASX: RCI

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Description

Rocklands Richfield has two divisions; the income producing China Coke and Chemicals (CCS) and coal exploration activities in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.

The principal business activities of CCS are the manufacture and sale of grade 2 metallurgical coke from locally sourced coals; production of coke by-products namely; tar, crude benzene, ammonium sulphate and coal gas. The modern 480,000 tpa coking plant is located in the Huaibei region of Anhui province in eastern China.

Rocklands Richfield holds tenements over three highly prospective coalfields in the Bowen Basin region of Queensland, Australia; Hillalong MDL 324 (100% owned), Rocklands EPC 890 (60% owned) and Richfield EPC 930 (60% owned). These projects are in the vicinity of many other large producing mines including Newlands, Hail Creek and Blackwater.

HILLALONG PROJECT - MDL324

The Company holds a Mineral Development Licence (MDL) over 3,189 hectares in the northern part of the Bowen Basin. The project is located 15 kilometres east of Glenden and 100 kilometres west of Mackay. There are a number of producing mines in the vicinity, including Newlands, Hail Creek and Burton.

The project has been the subject of previous exploration and has been assessed to contain approximately 16.2 million tonnes of indicated resources that are potentially amenable to open cut mining to a depth of 100 metres and further indicated and inferred resources of approximately 61.3 million tonnes amenable to underground mining. Limited testing indicates that the raw coal could produce dual products of coking and thermal coals.

Based on these attributes and the proximity to essential mining infrastructure, the Company believes this project is well placed for short term economic exploitation.

ROCKLANDS PROJECT - EPC890

The Company owns a majority share (60%) in HLM Coal Australia Pty Ltd which holds a 100% ownership of EPC 890, a 150 square kilometre exploration permit in the central part of the Bowen Basin, 20 kilometres south of Blackwater and 200 Kilometres west of Rockhampton. The EPC contains substantial coal deposits in the vicinity of the giant Blackwater Mine and Cook Colliery but delineation and quantum have yet to be confirmed by intensive drilling.

Recent drilling undertaken by the company in 2007 indicate that a targeted section of the lease to the south western of the deposit contains relatively shallow coal with measured, indicated and inferred resources of approximately 380 million tonnes. The latest Exploration Report for EPC890 in Oct 2008 stated the total inferred resources are 880 million tonnes. Such seams have the potential to be mined by underground methodologies including longwall mining.

In general the laboratory results indicate that the coal is high volatile bituminous with soft to semisoft coking properties. Aries, Argo and Pisces seams give high yielding, low ash, low sulphur washed products with Argo and Pisces having very good caking properties, Aries II intermediate caking properties and Aries I poor caking properties. Aries and Pisces also have < 0.05% phosphorus washed. Castor has substantially lower yield and higher ash with low sulfur and phosphorus and marginal caking properties (between those of Aries I and Aries II).

The company intends to continue its exploration program on the Rocklands project to increase the indicated and measured status of coal content through an intensive drilling program targeting the shallower coal to JORC status. In conjunction it is envisaged that a feasibility and initial mine planning and research work associated with the establishment of large scale underground mining will be undertaken.

RICHFIELD PROJECT - EPC930

The Company owns a direct interest (60%) in EPC 930, an exploration permit also located in the Bowen Basin close to the township of Middlemount, and 150 kilometres north of Blackwater. This project is considered a "grassroots" exploration project aimed at exploring for shallow coal primarily situated on the western margin of the EPC.

Some seventeen holes have been drilled in the EPC. One 100mm diameter cored quality hole numbered RI015C was drilled in mid 2007 on the south western edge of the Richfield tenement which intersected the Leichhardt seam at approximately 400 meters depth. A number of ply samples from this core were delivered to the SGS Gladstone laboratory where coal testing was completed.

The resulting washability and clean coal composite analysis test results from this core are encouraging with results indicating the existence of an attractive high rank coal which would be suitable for the premium Pulverised Coal Injection(PCI) market. The core at this location revealed a clean coal seam of 4.6 metres thick, with low raw ash of 10.4%, low sulphur and low volatiles.

Mine For

coal, coal seam gas

Location of operation(s)

Queensland, China

Australian Basins

Bowen

Address

Se 1305, 3 Spring St
SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA

Phone

(61 2) 8249 4325

Email

Website

http://www.rocklandsrichfield.com.au

Last Updated

10/02/2011