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BATHURST RESOURCES LIMITED. — Regulatory Filings 2021
Feb 9, 2021
64563_rns_2021-02-09_1272c227-2954-4cb4-abb5-a64d6220ad3d.pdf
Regulatory Filings
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Level 12, 1 Willeston Street, Wellington 6011, New Zealand PO Box 5963 Lambton Quay, Wellington 6145, New Zealand P. +64 4 499 6830 F. +64 4 974 5218 E. [email protected]
10 February 2021
Australian Securities Exchange Level 4, 20 Bridge Street SYDNEY NSW 2000
CANTERBURY MINE CLOSURE
Directors of Bathurst Resources Limited (the “Company”) advise that the Canterbury Coal mine is to be closed.
Operating 70 kilometres west of Christchurch, the mine produces low sulphur coal primarily for the local dairy industry.
Ongoing costs and the delays associated with obtaining regulatory consents for the current operations, as well as an inability to reach an agreement on a longer-term economic solution with the local regulatory bodies has resulted in the Company’s decision to cease operations at Canterbury.
Following the decision, coal will continue to be supplied to customers until June 2021, after which point the mine will formally move to care and maintenance.
The Canterbury Coal mine is the smallest mine that BRL manages, with expected FY21 EBITDA of $2m. This announcement has no impact on the FY21 EBITDA guidance of $55.4m released in the recent quarterly activities report.
CEO Richard Tacon said this was not an easy decision to make: “We have worked hard to turn around a small mine into a well-run, award winning and environmentally sound operation that provides jobs for New Zealanders in a regional area.
We have reached the point at which the timeframes and cost of regulatory processes outweigh the commercial returns of continuing to operate the mine. This was an outcome that we fought to prevent, recognising the cost of the staged job losses that will follow. And also that our customers will now need to source coal from much further way, meaning an increased transportation cost and carbon footprint.”
The Company confirms the decision has no impact on Bathurst’s other operations, which all have longer term regulatory consents in place with supportive local councils, but reflects an unusual and specific set of circumstances particular to the Canterbury Coal mine and its regulatory environment.
Further inquiries can be directed to [email protected].
On behalf of Bathurst Resources Limited.
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Russell Middleton Director