AKIPRESS.COM - Australian Securities Exchange-listed Guildford Coal's Mongolian subsidiary Terra Energy has been granted a 30-year mining license in the South Gobi region by the Minerals Resource Authority of Mongolia, where it plans to start mining in 2016, Platts reports.

The miner said in a statement Tuesday that it plans to mine low strip ratio coal and it expected there to be a fast ramp-up to mining operations, as it adjoins another of Guildford's mining licenses which includes the Baruun Noyon Uul (BNU) coking coal mine, meaning current infrastructure can be used, as well as a 98-kilometer haul road to China.

Guildford said the new mining license aligns with its expansion plans in the South Gobi region and covers part of a "highly prospective" exploration license that has a JORC-compliant inferred resource of 15 million mt and an additional exploration target of 26 million-45 million mt.

The miner added that it plans to extend output to 2 million mt in 2016 and 3 million mt in 2017, with a sustainable 5 million mt/year reached by 2020 through expanding its existing operations.

The BNU mine has a current output capacity of 1.2 million mt/year.