The Huguenot Coal Project is located along the northeastern limb of a broad, northwest-plunging anticlinorium (the Belcourt Anticlinorium). Lower Cretaceous coal measures are located along the western and eastern margins of this structure, while Triassic and Jurassic strata occupy the central portions. The western extent of the anticlinorium is defined by a major, westerly-dipping thrust fault that emplaced Palaeozoic rocks upon the Lower Cretaceous strata. Eastward from the core of the Anticlinorium, the Cretaceous succession is continuous, the youngest strata being those of the Kaskapau Formation (Late Cretaceous). The Huguenot property is located within a narrow, northwesterly-trending band of tight to relatively open folds and associated northeasterly-verging thrust faults that have placed older units upon younger.

The Gates coal measures are repeated by two easterly-dipping and easterly-verging thrust faults, the Holtslander North and Holtslander South Thrusts. For descriptiven purposes, the three structural slices are referred to as the North, Middle, and South Blocks.

Mining sections have been defined either from discrete coal seams where all, or most, of the coal-bearing interval forms a single mining section, or as parts of a coal zone where one or more coal layers occurring in relatively close vertical proximity to one another, form separate mining sections. Thin, internal, rock bands, if present, are included in the mining sections but thicke ........

The deposit is therefore considered to be of moderate geology type for the North and Middle Blocks and complex geology type for the South Block. There are sufficient quantities of nearsurface resources that may support surface mining in all three blocks. In addition, the dip and structure of the North Block may allow some seams to be amenable to underground longwall mining techniques. The surface mine is started first due to the relative ease of establishing the mine and producing coal in significant volumes within one year of start-up. It continues to operate for fourteen years until the economic pit limits are reached. The underground mine begins operation in year 3 and reaches full production in year 5 and continues to operate until year 31.

Parameters used to develop the surface minable areas include:

• Minimum seam true thickness of 0.8m
• Minimum interburden or parting true thickness of 0.3m
• Maximum (incremental) strip ratio (cut-off ratio) of 14 to 1 (average strip ratio of 8.6 to 1)
• Minimum oxidized coal zone of 5m depth on outcrop
• Overall pit slopes of 45°
• Roof and floor dilution of 15cm
• Mining recovery of 95%.

The selected open pit mining method is a conventional truck and shovel operation utilized.

The use of smaller excavators for coal mining with separate truck fleets achieves a balance between selectively mining smaller seams while trying to maintain low unit costs. Given the li ........

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