Australian miner Bathurst Resources is optimistic that the Government will move to facilitate mining in New Zealand.
Bathurst chief executive Hamish Bohannan told The Nation this morning that the mining industry had called on Energy and Resources Minister Phil Heatley to provide "a clearer route to taking mineral prospects from an activity in the ground to an actual return to the economy".
"He reassured us that the Government is working on it," he said.
Bathurst has spent some $250 million to date developing its Buller Coal Project to mine high-grade coking coal from the Denniston Plateau above Westport for export.
It has spent $15 million on the process of gaining consents for the mine, which face appeals.
Mr Bohannan said the company faced two groups of objectors and "they keep appealing and appealing".
He said the groups were concerned about climate change but New Zealand produced 6 million tonnes of coal a year in a world that produced 6 billion tonnes a year.
"Doing things differently in New Zealand is really like trying to steal the Titanic by hanging onto the flag at the back.
"We're concerned about climate change. To us it's all about using your coal more efficiently," he said.
Watch the video for the full interview with Mr Bohannan.
NZN