Bathurst shares were placed on a trading halt at $1.64 on Monday morning and are due to resume trading today.
While Bathurst is yet to begin production, its Buller region claims have been increased from 200ha to 541ha. The original estimated 72.8 million tonnes of resource could be boosted by up to 25 million tonnes.
Bathurst's managing director, Hamish Bohannan, said yesterday the assets and permits of Brookdale Assets had been purchased for $A12 million ($NZ16.2 million) cash plus 15 million Bathurst shares, estimated to be worth $A15.75 million at the discounted $1.05 per share offer.
The $A55 million issue, which is not underwritten, is on offer at $A1.05, a 10.3% discount on Friday's closing price.
The 52.4 million shares represent 8.5% of Bathurst's issued capital.
Since December, Bathurst, with market capitalisation of $A718 million, has spent about $NZ96.3 million on West Coast acquisitions and raised $NZ242 million before the Brookdale purchase.
Craigs Investment Partners broker Peter McIntyre expected most of the institutional offer to have already been taken up.
The acquisition covers three blocks totalling 341ha on the Buller plateau, which is next to Bathurst's Cascade mine and Escarpment block on the West Coast. The mainly hard or semi-soft coking coal, which is a key ingredient in steel-making, is selling for about $US300 tonne.
The Brookdale exploration target is 15 million to 25 million tonnes within the acquisition area.
Mr Bohannan said, "This acquisition completes Bathurst's consolidation of its South Buller operation,". This week's capital-raising fully funded "near term capital and development requirements".
Bathurst hopes to begin mining its premium hard coking coal by the end of the year from the tenements south of the Denniston plateau, building up to 2 million tonnes annual extraction within a year.
The new Brookdale acquisition includes two consented underground operations, which could be converted to open cast; a partially consented open cast operation and permit to annually truck 250,000 tonnes off the Buller plateau and store up to 90,000 tonnes at Fairdown.
• Last week, Bathurst lodged 16 resource consent applications with the West Coast Regional Council and eight with the Buller District Council. Public submissions are due to close in October.
Bathurst Resources
$A55 million ($NZ74.6 million) issue
Brookdale Assets/permits ... $A12 million
Exploration ... $A10 million
Capital expenditure ... $A30 million
Working capital/transaction costs ... $A3 million
