The Kingston coal (lignite) deposit, delineated by Western Mining Corp. in the early 1980s, has been re-assessed for the energy generation potential its coal represents, viewed in the context of recent increased demand for liquid transport fuels and low emissions electrical energy in south-eastern Australia, coupled with improved efficiency changes in energy extractive technology. During the 1980s, the deposit had been intensively assessed by WMC as a candidate for supplying fuel to a proposed new coal-fired power station to be built in South Australia in the 1980s. However, the State Government at the time subsequently elected to expand the existing coal mine at Leigh Creek and to purchase electricity from Victoria. Left without a market, the deposit was therefore not developed. During the first year of the project, office-based work undertaken by Kingston Energy Pty Ltd was aimed at quantifying the coal resource, identifying options for commercialising it, and identifying economic, environmental, social and political factors that would need to be addressed by a development project. Specialised consultants were retained to make studies to address a number of key factors such as JORC compliant reserves, economic models and groundwater management. During project Year 2, the estimation of a Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) - compliant mineral (coal) resource for the Kingston coal deposit was completed. Other work comprised investigations of options for coal resource commercialisation, and the initiation of mining feasibility and scoping studies. In addition, Kingston Energy organised a project workshop that was held in May 2007 in Adelaide, which brought together interested parties from the South Australian Government and private industry. The focus of the workshop was to document, at an early stage, the key issues perceived to be associated with the possible development of the resource, so that strategies could be devised to address the issues in a timely manner. During project Year 3, the project's main focus changed from looking at electricity generation to coal-to-liquids conversion possibilities, with attendant scoping of coal gasification plant requirements, and related groundwater modelling studies. The plan was to build a 10,000 barrels per day coal conversion facility, primarily to produce ultra pure diesel fuel for sale into the wholesale and retail Australian fuel market. As a secondary product, the facility would produce naphtha for sale as refinery feedstock. An integrated electricity generation plant would provide power for the facility’s auxiliary power load, leaving about 40 MW of excess power available for export via the National Transmission Grid. It was envisaged that over a probable 30-year mine life the project could incorporate carbon capture and storage for the carbon dioxide removed during the coal-to-liquids process, as mitigation against the foreshadowed future impost that will be levied on industrial carbon dioxide emissions. During project Year 4, ongoing research was focussed on the two key risk areas of the project, achieving optimum groundwater management and coal combustion / gasification. Two phases of groundwater modelling and simulations were carried out, plus successful combustion trials on samples of Kingston coal, and initial bench-scale coal gasification trials were completed. During project Year 5, semi - industrial scale coal gasification trials were commenced to determine the effects of temperature, coal feed rate, air flow rate and steam flow rate on gas composition. These trials concluded that: • Kingston lignite, because of its high reactivity, is a superior product for gasification purposes when compared to coals of higher rank. • Kingston lignite produces a superior quality (high hydrogen content) synthesis gas (“syngas”) which is capable of providing high product yields (methanol, ammonia, and urea) relative to other coal sources of comparable or higher rank. The fundamental economic basis of the project was revisited as a consequence of changing commodity price outlooks and increasing capital costs for developing coal-to-liquid conversion plants. High level financial modelling was carried out to investigate the viability of instead using the coal for more cheaply producing other commodities such as fertilizer. During project year 6, the first of renewed EL 4576, pre-feasibility studies and the commercial evaluation of the project were undertaken for promoting the Kingston deposit's ability to produce methanol and/or the nitrogen fertilizer, urea in addition to liquid fuels. Hybrid Energy Australia persisted in its efforts to find an investment partner that would support modelled world class production levels of up to 1.7 to 2.0 Mt of urea or 0.7 – 1.0 Mt of methanol per annum for 25 years. In addition, the company employed the services of specialised consultants to perform studies to address quantifying a number of key development-critical factors such as JORC compliant reserves, economic models and groundwater management. During project years 7 through 10, no work was done. Eventually a decision was made to fully surrender tenure because no third party interested in investing in the project could be found.