PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Coal miner Whitehaven Coal will spend $72-milion to acquire an additional 7.5% interest in the Narrabri mine, in New South Wales, taking its ownership to 77.5%.
Whitehaven on Friday said that an initial $17-million will be payable on the completion of the transaction, with the remaining $55-million payable over a five-year period.
The miner told shareholders that the acquisition of an additional 7.5% interest in the project represented an attractive opportunity to increase the company’s majority stake in the underground asset, and further consolidated Whitehaven’s dominant position in the Gunnedah basin.
Narrabri has been approved to produce 11-million tonnes a year of thermal coal until 2031.
The transaction was subject to the remaining joint venture partners not exercising their pre-emptive rights, as well as other standard conditions precedent.