back on the radar

From the Australian today:


Red-hot turnaround as optimism about China rises -

WHILE most coal producers here fret about the outlook for thermal and coking coal export prices -- and there's plenty to fret about on both scores at present -- Bathurst Resources (BRL) seems to have carved out a niche for itself in its domestic market, which happens to be New Zealand.

The company, which recently moved its head office from Perth to Wellington, has bought another mine west of Christchurch, near the aptly named settlement of Coalgate (blink and you've passed it), which produces thermal coal low in sulphur and ash and highly prized by dairy factories for their boilers.

Bathurst already operates two mines on the South Island supplying industrial users (and the many homes in the South that avoid freezing in winter by shovelling plenty of coal into their sitting room fireplaces).

With domestic revenue lifting, the company is now focusing on developing its mine near Westport to export 4 million tonnes of coking coal a year to India and other Asian customers.