L&M COAL Ltd is seeking partners for a multimillion-dollar coking coal development northeast of Westport.
The project, which will look to develop several open cast mines, is estimated to cost up to $100 million and is expected to have a minimum 10-year lifespan and a 10-million-tonne output.
The company, a division of the L&M Group, said yesterday it could be exporting by 2010 and the project could boost employment in the region by up to 100 new jobs.
It would be the second recent venture for the West Coast from export coal.
Last month, Pike River Coal struck a big deposit following two years of tunnelling.
China and India's emerging economies pushed the price of hard coking coal, used in the manufacturing of steel, from below $US100 ($NZ182) per tonne in mid-2007 to beyond $US300 this year.
The price has since pulled back, but not to the extent of other industrial metals, which have shown major declines from record prices during the past 18 months.
L&M Coal managing director Greg Hogan said although results of more exploratory tests were due in the new year, they would not change the outcome or plans to get the venture under way.
He declined to say whether the company had been in talks with Pike River Coal, but said a "number of parties" in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China, India and Europe had been spoken to about the venture.
"There have been a number of potential partners spoken to; some want to acquire the asset [outright]," Mr Hogan said yesterday.
He estimated it would take less than $100 million to develop the mines, noting there was already road, rail and port facilities on hand.
He would not be drawn on choice of an export point - the Westport Harbour Authority or Lyttelton Port of Christchurch - other than to say there had been "very encouraging" discussions with Westport.
L&M Coal had investigated the area, south of the Stockton Plateau, under an exploration permit and has applied to government permit agency Crown Minerals for a mining permit over 190ha, NZPA reported.
The company will also need an access agreement with the Department of Conservation and resource consents from West Coast Regional Council and the Buller District Council.
L&M announced last month it had discovered 128 million tonnes of coal in New Zealand, in four separate exploration permits.
The other three areas it hopes to mine are Kaitangata in Otago, Ohai in Western Southland and the Maramarua field in Waikato.
A pilot programme is under way at Kaitangata, testing for coal seam methane gas.
