WPG option covers EL 3336 (Robin Rise) in which the Penrhyn deposit lies and the neighbouring ELA 339/09 (Lake Woorong) to the west.
The Penrhyn deposit has been tested by limited drilling only in the past. It was discovered in 1995 as part of the South Australian exploration initiative and was subsequently explored by the SASE joint venture. The deposit lies within the Arckaringa basin and the quality of the sub-bituminous coal is reported to be generally similar to other Arckaringa basin coals, such as Lake Phillipson.
The Penrhyn trough is 25km long by 5km wide, and drilling by Primary Industries and Resources South Australia (PIRSA, formerly known as MESA) has shown that the deposit contains up to four major and several minor coal seams that in places make up a cumulative thickness of up to 15.5mt.
The relatively flat lying coal seams lie at depths ranging between 70mt and 130mt beneath a 60mt thick sequence of Eromanga basin sediments and surficial cover. The exploration target at Penrhyn is in the range from 250 to 350 million tonnes of coal. This exploration target is based on the available drill hole and coal quality data and is conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to define a coal resource, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the determination of a coal resource.
WPG sees Penrhyn as potentially an ideal feedstock for one of the emerging clean coal technologies that will increase the specific energy and reduce the moisture content of the run of mine coal. This could lead to a new export coal industry. There are other potential applications, including coal for a mine mouth power station to add value to iron ore from the Hawks Nest magnetite deposits through the production and marketing of a merchant pig iron.
