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Eastern negotiates 10 year Southland coal contract with Fonterra
5 February 2010 - Brisbane-based coal miner Eastern Corporation Ltd has finalised negotiations for extending its current thermal coal sales contract with Fonterra’s South Canterbury dairy processing plant to 10 years.
Sources: Eastern Corporation and Lindsay Clark
Eastern said in its December quarter report that the growth of the dairy industry in the South Island is presenting the company with further sales opportunities.
Eastern mines sub-bituminous coal from its Takitimu mine near Nightcaps in western Southland. The mine’s largest contract is with Fonterra’s Clandeboye plant near Timaru where the coal is railed. The current 130,000 tonne a year contract began in September 2008.
The Takitimu mine is undergoing further plant upgrades to ensure the mine can meet increased production targets, particularly now that Takitimu stands as the only major supplier of sub-bituminous coal in the Southland region.
After the completion of a successful drilling programme at the Eastern’s Ohai permit an agreement has been reached with the adjoining landowner with a view to extending the area under development at Takitimu.
A further drilling programme will start in February to obtain data for future mine planning and future resource consents process on the assumption that part of this area will come under the current Takitimu mining permit, Eastern said.
