Bathurst Resources’ application to buy a closed West Coast coal mine has been declined by the Overseas Investment Office.
Bathurst wanted to buy the Sullivan Mine, on the Denniston plateau, which is adjacent to its mothballed development mines above Westport, on the West Coast.
The Sullivan Mine has been closed for more than 20 years.Bathurst suspended its Denniston plateau venture in March 2016 after spending two years defending legal challenges to its consents. By then, the global price of the specialist hard coking coal had plunged to uneconomic levels.
While Bathurst told the OIO it wanted the hard coking coal Sullivan Mine in order to support its adjacent Denniston plateau holdings, the OIO said given there was uncertainty around Sullivan Mine reopening, it was not satisfied there would be substantial benefits for New Zealand.
Since suspending Denniston plateau operations, Bathurst has, with a joint-venture partner, bought Solid Energy’s West Coast Stockton mine plus another two near Huntly, in the North Island, last year. It also has three thermal South Island mines supplying industry.
