ASX-listed Celsius Coal, formerly View Resources, has completed its purchase of an 80% interest in Kokkia Coal, a company incorporated and domiciled in Hong Kong, which in turn owns three prospective coal tenements located in the Uzgen coal basin in Kyrgyzstan.

View Resources recently commenced earning an 80% interest in three adjacent coal assets (Tuyuk-Kargasha-Kokkia and Min-Teke) located in the north-western portion of the Uzgen coal basin in Kyrgyzstan. Almost all of the license areas are underlain by Jurassic sediments, the principal host of coal mineralisation in Kyrgyzstan. The coal bearing formation (the Tuyuk formation) occurs near the base of the Jurassic sedimentary sequence and outcrops in the north of the Project area. The Jurassic sequence dips to the southwest at between 5 and 30 degrees (based on outcrop mapping), with post-depositional folding creating gentle undulations in the layers.
(Map: courtesy View Resources)

The interest is held via Kokkia’s 100% ownership of two Kyrgyzstan entities, Panj-Sher Ank Ltd and Baidamar Ltd, which together hold the Tenements.

As consideration, the company has now allotted and issued 500,000,000 fully paid ordinary shares and 900,000,000 Performance Shares pro-rata to the shareholders of Kokkia by way of part consideration for the acquisition.

Celsius will carry out a confirmatory drill program to test the exploration target of coal already defined on the tenements.

Celsius believes it will be able to delineate JORC resource at the completion of drilling.

Kygyzstan Coal Projects

During the Soviet Union era, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan were designated as the suppliers of raw materials to the rest of the republics due to the wealth of their natural resources. The coal industry was rapidly developing in the early 1900s, and by 1913 Kyrgyzstan provided coal for the whole Central Asian region.

In November 2011, View Resources Limited entered into an agreement to acquire a 90% interest in two prospective coal assets located in Southern Kyrgyzstan, being the Sary-Mogol and Bel-Alma Projects. The Sary-Mogol project consists of a development licence covering an area of previous open cut mining activity. The Bel-Alma project is potentially a large tonnage, high quality thermal coal project. The total licence area is 278 hectares.

Today, Kyrgyzstan is a net importer of thermal coal, so there is potential to supply the domestic market. Both the Sary-Mogol and Bel-Alma projects are also close to the Chinese border (another potential end user of the coal) and the Bel-Alma project is situated near the proposed Trans-Euro railway. View Resources has secured a significant foot hold in a highly prospective area known to have extensive coal deposits, with other potential acquisitions under consideration.