Bathurst signals new cargoes for Westport & New Plymouth

Bathurst signals major new cargoes for Westport and New Plymouth

Feb. 21 (BusinessDesk) – One of the South Island’s smallest ports, at Westport, is looking forward to a huge boost in cargo with the signing of a heads of agreement to ship high-grade coking coal from new open-cast mines being developed in the area by Bathurst Resources Ltd.

Bathurst announced it had signed the agreement with Buller Holdings Ltd., the local government-owned holding company that owns the port, and whose largest current cargo is cement from the nearby Holcim plant, which is under threat of relocation.

Bathurst’s managing director, Hamish Bohannan, told BusinessDesk the company intended to use both the Westport facility and to rail coal from its various planned mines over the Southern Alps to Lyttelton.

“But our primary objective is definitely Westport,” he said. “This is a key milestone in finalising the logistics chain that will see the value of the Buller coal field realised in international markets.”

Resource consents and Department of Conservation concessions for the proposed operations are still required, but Bathurst remains optimistic it will be mining by the end of this year, with annual tonnage rising to two million tonnes within three years.

Under the agreement, the port will construct coal-handling facilities from where coal will be sent in small ocean-going ships to New Plymouth, for despatch to export markets.

“The project will inject significant investment into Westport providing employment not just in the construction phase but also in the ongoing provision of coal handling services,” Bathurst said in a statement to the NZX.

Bathurst shares closed today 2 cents down at $1.42.

(BusinessDesk)

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