Paringa CEO David Gay said: “The BFS has produced an excellent result and has confirmed the Buck Creek No.1 Mine to be a compelling world-class mining project, generating strong EBITDA margins of over 35% despite the current depressed coal market in general.

“The 17% reduction in capex to only $105 million has also resonated well with US funding providers, and with the project’s average annual EBITDA of $87 million per annum, has resulted in a much shorter payback period of upfront funding.

“Importantly for current funding activities and for investors, the BFS is based on actual contracted sale prices from the company’s binding agreement with a major Illinois Basin utility and a final bidding process with a large pool of local contractors for all major capex items.

“In addition, we expect the project’s strong financial returns to increase even further as domestic coal markets recover.”

With the required environmental permits already in place, the BFS was the final stage before Paringa starts construction of the mine next year once funding has been finalized, Gay said.