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Eastern stripping at Takitimu mine in Southland
2 July 2007 - Eastern Corporation is stripping overburden from its Takitimu coal mine near Nightcaps in Western Southland, prior to beginning a new contract to supply sub-bituminous coal to the Fonterra Clandeboye plant in South Canterbury. The mine is the former Mossbank coal mine, located within mining licence ML 37 079.
Eastern says in its quarterly report to March 31, that during the quarter, phase one of the stripping contracts was completed uncovering approximately 50,000 tonnes of coal ready for extraction and processing.
Under the Fonterra, contract Eastern will supply approximately 130,000 tonnes of coal each year, commencing September 2008. This contract would underpin the production from the Takitimu mine and the company regarded it as an important step in Eastern’s New Zealand coal strategy.
Bulk samples of Takitimu coal have also been placed with a number of potential industrial customers and production will be increased as further off take agreements are secured.
The outlook for coal sales from both Eastern’s Cascade (West Coast) and Takitimu mines is expected to improve significantly for the next quarter with increased demand in the winter season.
Planning and design work for an exploration drilling programme at Takitimu was completed during the first quarter. The licence area contains a known resource of sub-bituminous coal and the drill programme is designed to determine whether there are sufficient coal resources to form the basis for further small-scale mining operations. The three hole drilling programme commenced earlier this month.
Initial work has also begun on exploration in two other Southland coal prospecting permits. These are the Ohai exploration permit (EP 39 321), which covers an extensive area surrounding the Ohai coal fields, and the Orepuki exploration permit (EP 39 319) located on the Southland coast.
Source: Eastern Corporation
