The Perth-based company, which floated on the ASX late last month having raised $3.5 million in an initial public offering, said this morning it has drilled 14 reverse circulation holes and two diamond holes in the China Bush Plantation area, also known as China Flats.

The drill core samples are being processed and Boss said the results would be released when they become available.

Further exploration program is also planned to upgrade the current JORC resource of 72 million tonnes of Tasmanite oil shale.

“The Tasmanite oil shale deposit is unique to Tasmania and has the advantage over other Australian oil shales in that it can be used as a source of bitumen as well as oil,” Boss said.

The company’s board plans to travel to Tasmania in the coming week to meet with representatives of the Tasmanian Mines Department to coordinate the company’s planned exploration program.

Oil shale is a fossil fuel but is not really oil. However, it contains kerogen, the organic matter from which oil and gas are formed.

Technologies involve "retorting", which involves super-heating the shale to 445-500C and removing the kerogen, which is then converted to oil.

Today, no oil is being produced from shale in Australia.