Some 20.1Mtpa of run-of-mine coal will be processed under the revised plan.

Coalspur attributed the 24% increase in the production target to enhanced mine planning, improved clean coal yield and optimised infrastructure design which is part of the project’s ongoing bankable feasibility study, scheduled for completion at the end of the year.

Coalspur managing director Gene Wusaty said the upgrade confirmed the company’s high expectations for the proposed mine.

“The expanded annual production further confirms Vista’s status as a world-class, tier one mining project,” he said.

Wusaty said the mine would benefit from CN rail facilities located adjacent to the Vista project.

“We expect that the increased production volumes in conjunction with the assessable rail and port infrastructure will render Vista an important first-world alternative supplier for export thermal coal to the rapidly expanding Asian Pacific economies,” he said.

To date, Coalspur has had pleasing results from the Vista project, only recently upgrading the project’s McLeod, Val D’Or and McPherson seams to export status following an extensive coal quality test program.

The Vista project is targeting a 31-year mine life for 9 million tonnes per annum of saleable thermal coal production.