PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed TerraCom has secured A$13.5-million in funding to facilitate the transfer of the Blair Athol mining lease, in Queensland.
The company on Friday said the funding, which has been secured through subsidiary Orion Mining, will also allow for the start of mining and rehabilitation activities at the Blair Athol coal mine.
TerraCom in 2016 inked a binding sales and purchase agreement with mining major Rio Tinto to acquire the Blair Athol mine for A$1.
Under the agreement, TerraCom would receive A$80-million from the mining giant to meet rehabilitation costs at the site.
TerraCom will start over 50 ha of site rehabilitation while bringing the mine back into production, with the project expected to deliver some two-million tonnes a year of coal over the first seven years of operation.
Operations will likely restart in the second quarter of 2017.
TerraCom on Friday said the combination of the Blair Athol mine and the company’s existing Baruun Noyon Uul (BNU) mine, in Mongolia, positioned the company well to capitalise on the strong coking and thermal coal markets.