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Wildhorse Energy readies PFS for Mecsek Hills as Hungary warms to UCG
Wednesday, February 01, 2012 by Philip Whiterow

Wildhorse Energy (LON:WHE, ASX:WHE) expects to release a pre-feasibility study on its Mecsek Hills underground coal gasification (UCG) project in Hungary within the next two months.

The group said significant progress had been made with confirmatory drilling at Mecsek Hills, with completion of the final two holes at the Varalja exploration target scheduled for the current quarter.

Matt Swinney, Wildhorse’s managing director, added that the drilling programme had intersected multiple coal seams that were potentially suitable for UCG.

“As we reach completion of the drilling programme, we look forward to providing investors with both the final analysis of the coal seams' suitability for UCG as well as the conclusions from the Independent Engineers Report and the PFS by the end of this quarter.”

He added that the group has also been encouraged by supportive comments on the development of coal assets and the application of UCG in Hungary by the Hungarian Office of Mining and Geology.

Wildhorse said that confirmatory holes had been drilled across the Komló, Pécs and Varalja target areas, using a mixture of Poly Crystalline Diamond ('PCD') and diamond coring techniques.

On completion, the assay results will be reviewed to identify which coal seams may be most suitable for UCG.

Final site selection will follow the completion of the drilling programme and assessment of factors including geological structure, coal suitability, land access, local infrastructure and mining layout, it added.

Wildhorse has also completed a 3D seismic programme, comprising of 15 square kilometres to assist UCG site selection.

Cash at the end of December was A$5.3 million. The group used up A$3.1 million in the quarter.

Source: Proactive Investors