19 November 2013

Green Light for the Escarpment Mine Project

Bathurst Resources (New Zealand) Limited (NZX/ASX: BRL) (“Bathurst”) is pleased to advise that the period for possible appeals on the final Environment Court decision to grant resource consent for the Escarpment Mine Project has now lapsed and no appeal has been lodged.

Last week Bathurst announced it had reached an agreement with one appellant, Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Incorporated (“Forest and Bird”), under which Forest and Bird agreed not to appeal the Environment Court’s final consent decision for the Escarpment Mine Project. The remaining parties to the proceedings had until yesterday to lodge appeals.

With the appeal period having lapsed, there can be no further legal challenges to the resource consent process. Bathurst is now fully committed to commencing mining as soon as possible.

The next stage of work before actual mining can commence is already well underway. This is the submission of 25 management plans to the Department of Conservation (“DOC”), Iwi and the local councils. It is anticipated the last of these plans will be signed off by mid-January 2014. Following the certification of all plans, an Authority to Enter and Operate will be issued by DOC so that mining earthworks can commence. The access road to the mine has already been upgraded; the works being completed in October.

Bathurst anticipates the first production from the Escarpment Mine Project to occur in the first quarter, 2014 as part of the construction process. Steady state mining of high quality metallurgical coal will be underway by June.

The Escarpment Mine Project is a high quality metallurgical coal project. The project is expected to be producing at a rate of 500,000 tonnes per annum by 2015 and 1.5Mtpa by 2016.

On behalf of Bathurst Resources (New Zealand) Limited.

Hamish Bohannan

Managing Director

ENDS

© Scoop Media