For any still wondering if the coals are there it's worth having...

For any still wondering if the coals are there it's worth having a read of the HUN prospectus and later company progress, granted they don't seem to have drilled to our kind of depths but may be of interest all the same.

https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/1086902/

Another solid resource is this report

https://www.globalmethane.org/Data/MNEC-CMM-Grant-Final-Report_FINAL.pdf

Tavan Tolgoi Coal Deposit Exploration History

1890 Deposit first discovered and recorded by team of geologist from U.S. A.

1940-1950 Sampling exploration done by former Soviet Union team who concluded property has coking potential and recommended more detailed exploration

1953-1956 Drilling exploration done by team of geologist from Former Soviet Union confirmed continuity of 18 mineable coal seams, and estimated 950 million t (C1) and 866 million t (C2)

1974-1975 Bulgarian exploration survey sampled 5 tons from 4 seam and determined Seam W best for coking, decided on development at meeting of COMECON

1978-1980 With guidance from former Soviet Union team, Mongolian exploration team spent 150 million Tugrik to drill 2,000 borehole for a total of 200 km, within 90 km2 area every 1.0 – 1.5 km 49

1981-1984 Additional drilling exploration of 35 km2 area, every 700 – 750 m in the northeast and west area

1984-1986 Additional drilling exploration of 10 km2 area, every 350 m in the northeast area

1984-1987 Additional exploration of northern 10km2 area

The Tavan Tolgoi Deposit occurs within the South Gobi coal-bearing basin. The deposit extends for 60 km east-west and 6-16 km north-south, over an area of 600 km2 . This is the largest coal deposit in Mongolia. Coal seams are found within the upper part of the Tavantolgoi Formation of Late Permian age. The Tavantolgoi Formation is 1,500m thick, with the upper coal-bearing section ranging in thickness from 600-1,000 m. The basic geologic structure is comprised of several gentle synclinal structures with faulting (Figure 43). The formation mainly trends east to west, and dips 0-15° at the north and 30° at the south. The coal-bearing sequence contains a total of 16 seams ranging in thickness from 3 to 30, with an overall average thickness of 165m. The coal seams are numbered from Seam 0 to Seam XV in ascending order, with twelve of the seams of minable thickness. Most of the coal seams vary in thickness laterally, often splitting and/or pinching out. Table 14 lists the seam thickness and intervals of the mineable coal seams within the Tavan Tolgoi deposit.