In February the junior inked an agreement with L&M Coal Holdings for a joint venture on the project, which covers 10,000 hectares in permits that “largely surround” the 2 million tonne per annum coking coal Stockton mine.
Due diligence on the arrangement is expected to be completed by April 30.
Bathurst appointed St Louis-headquartered Marston International as the DFS study managers.
“Should the results of the DFS confirm our initial internal analysis, Bathurst is confident of its ability to develop a 1 million tonne per annum coal mine producing predominantly high-quality coking coal,” Bathurst managing director Hamish Bohannan said yesterday.
The junior has an exploration target of 50-90Mt and noted the coal from the Buller region was low ash and high grade, as well as being near the surface.
Bathurst plans to target the same seams as Stockton, which exports to steel mills around the world.
The Perth-based company is also considering a New Zealand listing.
Shares in Bathurst are unchanged at 8.2c this morning.
