The board of thermal coal development company Coalspur Mines has approved the C$ 458 million development plan for its Vista Coal project in Canada.
The first phase of the development plan involves construction and commissioning of a 6 million tpa capacity thermal coal facility by mid-2015, with the capability to expand to 12 million tpa.
Coalspur president and CEO Gill Winckler said that the current downturn in the commodities industry with the associated pressure on commodity prices and service industries provided the company with an opportunity as it finalised its project execution strategy and capital.
"This is evident through our capital efficiency of C$ 76/t of capacity, which is very competitive with comparable thermal coal greenfield and brownfield expansion projects," he said.
"We continue to make good progress with the Alberta regulators. The regulatory approval process is taking longer than anticipated; however, the review process is in its final stages and we remain confident that we will be able to commence construction in the coming months and deliver our first coal in mid 2015," Winckler added.
Adapted from press release by Samuel Dodson.