Decision To Close Canterbury Coal Mine

Bathurst Resources has regrettably decided to close the Canterbury Coal mine, located in the Malvern Hills 70km from Christchurch. We have reached the point at which the timeframes and cost of regulatory processes outweigh the commercial returns.

We have been mining approximately 100,000 tonnes of low-sulphur coal per year at this site, largely supplied to local food processors located near the mine site.

We have been working towards economic solutions for keeping the mine open with Environment Canterbury, Selwyn District Council and our customers but these have not been successful.

Our main customer is the Fonterra Darfield milk processing factory located 18km from the mine. We will continue to supply coal to customers until June 2021. After that time coal will come from much further away, at increased transportation cost and increased carbon footprint.

For our customers generally, we are seeking alternative sources of coal for them.

There will be staged job losses at Canterbury Coal over the next 12 months. We will be supporting our workforce via redeployment within Bathurst where possible, and in finding new employment for the 35 people affected.

We are disappointed with this result. We have worked hard to turn around a small mine purchased in 2013 into a well-run, environmentally-sound operation that provides essential energy close to the end user, therefore reducing the transport carbon footprint.

Bathurst has spent significant sums of money on improving water treatment facilities on site and ensuring that discharges to adjacent streams do not adversely affect local Canterbury mudfish/kōwaro, as well as dealing with historic acid mine drainage issues inherited on the purchase of the mine. Our 2020 annual report provides a case study of the mudfish programme.

The Canterbury Coal mine won a New Zealand Minerals Sector Award for innovation in 2019, and was a finalist in the environmental management category in 2020.

We will now commence developing mine site rehabilitation plans in consultation with councils, land owners, neighbours and other stakeholders.

This statement may be attributed to Russell Middleton, Acting CEO, Bathurst Resources

© Scoop Media