The Saint Etienne permit was granted in November 2004 and covers 563 km² which includes the bulk of the Loire Basin, south west of Lyon. The Basin contains coal measures of up to 40 seams of Carboniferous age ranging in thickness from 1 to 15 metres. Historical production is approximately 600 million tonnes of bituminous coal with a long history of explosive methane being encountered during mining. Mine workings in areas of coal deposition are very extensive and comprise numerous shafts, development drives and extraction areas.

The area is mainly prospective for CMM production and to a lesser extent for CBM production due to the extensive nature of previous coal mining activity.

Based on the company’s reservoir study and using the available information a cavity volume of 58.7 million cubic metres was determined. The further refinement of the cavity volume will be achieved by the incorporation into the geological model of detailed mining plans. CMM production scenarios have been formulated but further geotechnical information will be needed to be recovered to produce a more detailed projection.

The company is carrying out further evaluation of the project’s CBM potential in both the mined and non mined areas. Several of the areas mined since 1950 only exploited selectively and a considerable tonnage of residual coal is present. This coal is likely to have enhanced permeability due to the proximity of mining activities.