Vancouver’s Goldsource Mines (TSX-V:GXS) has proposed a merger with a coal gasification company to kick-start shareholder value in its Border Coal project.
Despite its name, the junior mining company is actually focused on a large thermal coal project in Saskatchewan that could contain upward of 170 million tonnes of the black rock.
On Monday, Goldsource announced a merger with Zero Emission Energy Plants Ltd., a private Bermuda-based company that would marry Goldsource’s coal resources with Zero Emission’s “state of the art” coal gasification technology.
According to Goldsource, the technology, which was developed by the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne division of United Technologies, is able to convert heavy hydrocarbons into clean transportation fuels and chemicals.
Goldsource said the technology can also eliminate pollutants.
“We are aware that monetizing the value of our coal assets is a significant challenge, and now Goldsource will be able to achieve this by combining our coal resource with the best, new clean energy technologies currently available,” said Goldsource president Scott Drever.
In March, Goldsource filed a preliminary economic assessment for its Border project that outlined a $1.94 billion price tag for its proposed coal-to-liquids facility.
The project was estimated to have a net present value of $256 million, and, once in production, would generate 6.45 billion gallons of saleable products at production rates of 14,000 barrels per day.
The company had $73,605 in cash as of March 31, but has raised $3.7 million.
At press time, Goldsource’s shares were valued at $0.52.
Joel McKay
Twitter:jmckaybiv