PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed coal developer Coalspur Mines is hoping to start construction of its flagship Vista project, in Canada, by the second quarter of next year, as the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) dealt with the final concerns around the project.

Coalspur initially planned to start construction at Vista in September but had to delay activities while awaiting development approval.

Regulatory approval had initially been scheduled for the end of June, with project completion planned for mid-2015, but the AER received a number of statements of concern against the Vista project.

Coalspur told shareholders on Friday that the regulatory body had concluded its internal review of the Vista project, and had scheduled a November 25 hearing to review the outstanding concerns. These related to overlapping mineral development rights with an oil and gas company, and development issues raised by three Aboriginal groups.

The hearing was expected to last two weeks, and the AER would render its final decision on the Vista approval within 90-days of the close of the hearing, at around March next year.

However, Coalspur could speed up this process if agreements could be reached with all the interveners before the hearing date.

Should the hearing proceed, and should Coalspur gain AER approval and receive the remaining licences, project construction was scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2014, putting first production at the end of 2015.

“Although final regulatory approval for Vista has been delayed, we now have a clear path and timing through to a definitive decision and we are confident of a positive outcome,” said president and CEO Gill Winckler.

“We are disappointed that we have not been able to maintain our stated schedule to first production, but remain committed to bringing this important asset into production in a timely and responsible manner.”

Winckler added that in light of the hearing schedule, Coalspur had slowed down all spending until the outcome of the hearing was certain.

The Phase 1 of the Vista development would involve the construction and commissioning of a six-million-tonne-a-year thermal coal facility with the capacity to expand to 12-million tonnes a year.