(EnergyAsia, August 2 2011, Tuesday) — Australia-listed Hunnu Coal said it is targeting to produce 1.5 million tonnes of coal from the Tsant Uul deposit in Mongolia next year and three million tonnes in 2013.

The company said it expects to start production in the last quarter of 2011 after announcing that it had been granted a mining licence by the Mineral Authority of Mongolia to develop and mine the coal deposits in the 69,233-hectare Tsant Uul region.

Hunnu has been granted an initial term of 30 years with an option for two extensions of 20 years each to mine its recently upgraded estimate of 167 million tonnes of deposits in Tsant Uul.

The company said it has placed an initial purchase order for six CAT 773 dump trucks and a Hitachi 1200 excavator, with more to follow.

Since discovering the deposit in mid-2010, Hunnu has undertaken exploration and development drilling totalling 56,101 metres of diamond drill core, and applied to the government for approval to develop a coal haulage access road from the mine site to an existing haulage road.

Tsant Uul, in the coal-rich South Gobi province in southern Mongolia, is located 40km to the south of the giant Tavan Tolgoi coking coal deposit.