The low grade lignite deposits which form the Inkerman coalfield lie within a sequence of unconsolidated Tertiary sediments 100 m thick in the northern St. Vincent Basin. Drilling and test pumping in three aquifers has provided approximate transmissivity and storage coefficient values. The initial results suggest that for a pit 90 m deep intersecting all aquifers, the volume of water to be removed for each square metre (in plan) excavated is of the order of 8.5 m. Where no recharge occurs, inflows from all aquifers into a pit would rapidly decrease to a quasi steady-state value of approximately 0.3m /day per metre length of cut face. If recharge to the aquifers from St. Vincent Gulf is assumed, rates of inflow are dependent on the hydraulic gradient, and this itself is dependent upon the distance of the pit from the Gulf. The values obtained in this initial test indicate that an open cut pit 90 m deep should be able to be readily dewatered. However, it will be necessary to carry out further tests to further delineate aquifers and characteristics over the whole field.