On December 12, 2011 Aston and Whitehaven Coal announced that they had agreed to an all-scrip merger of equals that would result in the creation of a leading independent Australian coal producer.
Under the merger, Whitehaven will acquire unlisted coal explorer, Boardwalk Resources Limited and would create a coal company with saleable production of 6 million tonnes per annum of coal in FY2012.
The board of Aston Resources believed the synergy would be in the best interests for Aston shareholders and would mark the next phase in the company’s growth.
“The merger is expected to create a major supplier of metallurgical and thermal coals, with a strategic infrastructure position and the ability to harness significant synergies from the consolidation of Gunnedah Basin mining operations,” the company said in its quarterly.
During the quarter, Aston also focused on its key asset, the Maules Creek tenement in the Gunnedah Basin.
The company entered into a conditional agreement with J-Power Australia for the sale of a 10% stake in the Maules Creek project for $A370 million which would enable a long-term thermal coal sales agreement between the Maules Creek joint venture and Electric Power Development.
The transaction is conditional on ITOCHU, Aston’s existing joint venture partner, consenting to the terms of the transaction.
Another key milestone for Aston’s Maules Creek joint venture was signing an agreement with Boggabri Coal for the design, construction and operation of a shared rail spur linking to the Port of Newcastle.
Under the agreement, MCJV will have the right to rail 10.8 million tonnes per annum, with the ability to increase the throughput to 15Mtpa when it receives appropriate approvals.
Boggabri Coal will have the ability to rail 10Mtpa, with the ability to rail 13Mtpa with approvals.
During the December quarter, Aston secured an additional 3.5Mtpa of port allocation from Port Waratah Coal Services from 2015.
This was on top of Aston’s existing port allocations of 1.7 Mtpa from 2013 and 3.3Mtpa from 2015.
