Coalminer Bathurst Resources has begun building a $5 million storage building on the Westport wharf as part of its planned $30 million upgrade of the port.
The shed, to replace the existing open storage area, will hold about 9000 tonnes of coal. It would initially receive coal by truck and later, by rail via an overhead conveyor, Bathurst said.
The coal would then go into a hopper feeding the existing ship loader.
The new facility would enable Bathurst to load vessels at either the river wharf or, later, at the inner wharf in the Westport floating basin.
Nelson-based firm Brightwater Engineering had designed and was building the shed, which was expected to take about five months to finish.
The shed is the next stage in the logistics chain for coal from Bathurst's Buller Coal Project.
Bathurst has been using the existing facilities at Westport to ship coal from its Cascade operation on the Denniston Plateau. Trucks transport the coal to the port, where it is shipped to Port Taranaki.
Bathurst said the Westport port upgrade was part of its commitment to improve the port infrastructure for its planned Denniston escarpment mine.
The next stage of construction, subject to necessary approvals, would include an aerial transportation system off Denniston to largely replace the trucking fleet.
The construction of the wharf storage shed had been undertaken in conjunction with Westport Harbour Ltd, with whom Bathurst signed a heads of agreement last year. It was part of an overall plan to develop the Port of Westport into a first-class bulk handling port, Bathurst said.
The Environment Court will hear appeals against the proposed Denniston mine on October 29.
- By Lee Scanlon of the Westport News
