An internal review by the Alberta Energy Regulator has led to a planned hearing on November 25.

One of the four intervening parties is Tourmaline Oil Corporation, over matters relating to overlapping mineral development rights, while the rest are indigenous groups.

Coalspur believes it is capable of overcoming all the concerns by the interveners and expects a final AER decision in early March. This would allow construction to begin in the June quarter with first production from the stage one development (3 million tonnes per annum) of Vista expected in late 2015.

“The company and its employees have worked tirelessly over the past two years to advance this project and address the concerns of all impacted stakeholders,” Coalspur president and chief executive officer Gill Winckler said.

“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.”

There are further plans to double capacity to 6Mtpa from 2016. A further expansion to 12Mtpa could be considered, with Coalspur already signing contracts for this amount of rail capacity.