Investors see NZ as too green for coal projects, Bathurst says
"Coal comes in many forms. Only the lowest grades used in coal-powered power stations are 'dirty'."
Featured commentBUSINESSDESK: Resource consents have cost would-be opencast coking coal miner Bathurst Resources $15 million so far, with a month of appeal hearings still to come and the potential for further challenges.
Bathurst chief executive Hamish Bohannan released the figure during in a speech to last week's AUSIMM mining industry conference in Queenstown, where reports suggest the mood of the mining community was sour on the environmental opposition and regulatory hurdles facing their industry.
The speech notes were released to the NZX today, coinciding with an 8.5% fall in the Bathurst share price to 43 cents, down almost two-thirds on the $1.22 a share high point seen in the last 12 months.
Bathurst has spent some $250 million developing its Buller coal project, to take high-grade coking coal, used in steel making, from the Denniston Plateau above Westport for export.
Mr Bohannan has taken heat from his mainly Australian investor base, who were originally sold on the project because it involved world-class, high-value coal and was close to infrastructure, and its shares have sunk to around a third of their value at the highpoint.
He saysNew Zealand is gaining a reputation among foreign investors of being "too green" for resource projects.
The company received resource consents in August last year for the first stage of the project, the Escarpment mine, which is projected to produce one million tonnes of coal a year at its peak.
However, appeals by local and environmental groups have been lodged, with Environment Court hearings due in late October, and a decision early next year.
Mr Bohannan says investors expect environmental groups to "appeal any new mining decision" and believe that "New Zealanders on the whole oppose coal".
They also see the court system as creating "indefinite delays" with "no other option for consenting".
"The regulatory processes here are too complex," he says in his speech notes, which note the Escarpment initiative is now 18 months behind intended schedule, with mining next July the earliest likely start time.
Gold mining executives have also grumbled about the growing cost of mining in New Zealand at the conference.
It was held in the same week as state-owned coal miner Solid Energy announced it was moving away from high-cost underground mining to opencast operations, with the likely closure of the Spring Creek coal mine and a halt to development of its underground operation at Huntly East.
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Comments and questions22
Unfortunately NZ is becoming too "green" for investment in mining. But sadly, for NZ, not only investment in mining.
Try farming, fishing, or building a dam Mr Bohannan.
And we wonder why Australia beckons as a source of well paid jobs, backed by economic growth we would love to have in NZ. It will get even worse if Russel Norman (an Australian Communist export to NZ) has his way.
All persons including the legal fiction of corporations are equal in the eyes of the law.
If the majority of New Zealanders oppose coal mining, well surprise, they are informed adults, free agents and able to make a discriminating decision about the pluses and minuses of coal mining, irrespective of where it is burnt to release its carbon to atmosphere.
At some point in the future it might dawn on the majority who read this website that the economy is a subset of the environment, not the other way around, no environment no economy.
Globally this idea motivated most thinking nations toward the Kyoto Protocol. The USA and Canada are not in it. Mind they think the economy is the primary concern, that's why they still build gas guzzlers, frack and mine tar sands.
We ought have a genuine debate in NZ about what is real, about Climate Change, our part in it, and the innovation we can bring to create 21st century tech to live cleanly in our very crowded World.
It's easy to be "a whinging green" with a full belly on a benefit. Try being a productive member of society, that is, produce something to replace what you consume. It is called "sustainable existence"
You are a very sad, uninformed man John Morrison if you think your abusive categorisation applies to the many New Zealanders who have concerns about relatively untrammelled mining and oil exploration in New Zealand.
It is an attitude such as yours that drives people to the extremes, instead of finding a path forward that protects New Zealand natural environment while allowing for investment.
What a load of drivel. In fact the US has reduced CO2 emissions more than all the posturing Kyoto signatories - due to fracking and efficiencies.
Ignorance is the essence of "Green" these days.
"We ought have a genuine debate in NZ about what is real, about Climate Change, our part in it ..."
Absolutely. Bring it on. When can we start this debate – without a chorus of alarmists declaring "the debate is over" and refusing to share a platform with anybody who doesn't subscribe to their peculiar creed.
Yay for New Zealanders, and lets hope it stay this way, corporations have far too much free reign, we live in our environment without it we would not exist. New Zealand needs to look at creating sustainable energies without the dependancies on fossil fuels.
Congratulations, a reputation to be proud of!
A civilized country that can stand its ground without being raped and pillaged for short term and unsustainable profits is where I like to live.
Our children and their children will thank us for looking after our amazing country. Our economy will continue to be subject to many influences outside our control but will ultimately prosper in an environment that is healthy and the envy of the rest of the world.
Your children and their children will(if they are any use) probably be singing Advance Australia Fair like everyone else if New Zealand doesn't sort it's act out on environmental issues mate
I am unable to give any credence to the view of the grammarly incorrect.
'grammarly incorrect' you say?
I read a magazine the other day where the head of an NZ Primary Industry Association made the comment 'Countries cannot be broke and green'
That is where we are heading I'm afraid tragic as it may be
Commenting on the headline alone: This is great! Coal Mines can faff off.
NZ is no great Green country. I have travelled worldwide and Green countries are everywhere. To say we are unique is rubbish and the only ones who beleive it are hippy bearded men and woman with hairy arm pits.............
I am unable to give any credence to the views of this incapable of spelling.
Not to mention that most 'greenies' do not believe that NZ is in fact green, but that this is the hype of the deluded right wing.
I do wish the greens would be more accurate. Coal comes in many forms. Only the lowest grades used in coal-powered power stations are "dirty". This coking coal is clean burning and highly concentrated energy which is why it is so important for the steel industry. It is not burnt, but added to the iron during smelting. If this coal is not used, there will be NO STEEL, period. That is: No cars, No electronics or gadgets made with STEEL machines, No houses, with STEEL nails and brackets, No roofing iron, No stoves to ccok, No pots and saucepans to make your dinner, and No public transport made with STEEL, which needs your hated coal. Grow up and join this real life, flawed though it may be.
Trevor - your comments are a classic example of what happens when a debate becomes abusive and everyone ends up in extreme corners.
The number of "greens" opposed outright to coal would be very small. The number of "greens" seeking reasonable protections of the natural environment consistent with most developed western countries without large tracts of wastable land is quite widespread in NZ.
No. The investors are staying away because they fear the maoris will claim that their ancestors sang songs about the coal and hence, own the coals.
Or that spirits (with their tongues sticking out) dwell in the coal pits.
Plenty of research shows us that the IQ of bigots, such as yourself, is significantly lower than the rest of the population. Therefore it would be stupid to believe a word that you have to say Louis Crimp
Funny how the "spirits with their (tongues sticking out)" go away so quickly when the local iwi get a nice fat cheque!. Food for thought.....
Here we are with more than 230 miners potentially being made redundant. And yet just up the road theres a coal mining company that will need far more than that number of men for a new mining project but thats in jeopardy because of the greenies!!! go figure