Coalspur expects this to be the final step prior to the AER issuing the licenses necessary for the development of Vista. Following a final review in late September, the AER will decide whether a hearing will be set to resolve any concerns. The company has been working with the AER to complete the application process under the new regulations, which have been in effect since June 17.
Coalspur also said that Canadian National Railway Company (CN) has received final approval from the Canadian Transportation Agency for construction of the planned rail line, which will provide CN with access to Vista’s loading site.
Coalspur President and CEO Gill Winckler said, “We are working with the AER and their revised approval process and hope to resolve the outstanding issues in a timely manner. We are disappointed that construction on Vista will not be able to commence in September as previously expected, however, our development schedule includes numerous contingencies, which will allow us to maintain the capital budget and achieve first production from Vista in mid-2015 as planned, assuming that we begin construction later this year.”
Vista has the potential to reach 12 million metric tons per year (mt/y) of clean coal production. In June, Coalspur completed its final development plan for phase 1 of Vista, which will reach 6 million mt/y and is scheduled to begin construction in 2013 with first production in 2015. Phase 2 will increase production capacity by an additional 6 million mt/y.
