The thermal coal project has attracted criticism from local residents who claim that it contravenes a 10-point coal-and-gas plan by the outgoing Keneally government that bans exploration in waterways adjoining national parks.

White Energy issued a statement today advising it and Cascade have agreed to extend the potential end-date for the completion of the transaction from April 30 to May 27 to enable White Energy to “finalise all relevant materials” for the extraordinary general meeting.

“White Energy is now in the process of completing its notice of meeting documentation and anticipates dispatching the notice and all related materials to shareholders in mid-April with a view to holding the extraordinary meeting in mid-May 2011,” the company said.

The NSW Coalition has stated it plans to review the circumstances of how the Mt Penny EL was awarded to Cascade after claiming office.

White Energy, led by ex-Felix Resources duo Brian Flannery and Travers Duncan, believes the Mt Penny project will not be affected by a NSW Coalition government review as it has already reached the development application stage.

The family company of former NSW minerals resources minister Eddie Obeid purchased the Cherrydale Park property in Cascade’s Mt Penny project area in late 2007, with expressions of interest sought for this exploration licence less than a year afterwards.

The Keneally government’s plan had also included the introduction of exclusion zones to protect competing land users, such as wine growers and the thoroughbred horse industry, from mining developments, along with various limitations to coal seam gas exploration.

An Australian Financial Review investigation of private company Cascade found that five White directors were each 12% shareholders of the company, including Flannery and Duncan.

White Energy has refuted any suggestion of conflict of interest.

“Due to the related-party nature of the Cascade Coal transaction, White Energy established an independent board committee (IBC) comprising of independent directors Graham Cubbin, Vincent O’Rourke and Hans Mende,” a presentation given by Flannery revealed.

“The decision to proceed with the acquisition of Cascade Coal follows an extensive and rigorous due-diligence exercise performed by the IBC in consultation with its external advisors. Subsequent to this diligence process, the IBC strongly believes that the transaction represents significant value, is a compelling opportunity and is in best interests of all White Energy shareholders.

“The IBC also engaged an independent expert, Deloitte Corporate Finance Pty Limited, to prepare a report on the proposed transaction including an opinion as to whether the acquisition of Cascade shares on the term proposed is fair and reasonable to White Energy shareholders not associated with Cascade Coal shareholders. This included an independent technical review by Behre Dolbear.”

The Bylong Valley Protection Alliance has leapt on the Keneally government’s point of banning exploration in waterways adjoining national parks and its election promise to remove exploration licences on waterways close to those parks.

The northern portion of Mt Penny development straddles the Goulburn River and abuts the Goulburn River National Park, according to Bylong Valley Progress Association interim secretary Craig Shaw.

Mt Penny is anticipated to begin production in 2013 and initially build-up to 5.2 million tonnes per annum of run-of-mine coal from Open-Cut 1, followed by Open-Cuts 2-4 contributing an additional 4.0Mtpa of ROM coal. This will bring total production to 9.2Mtpa ROM coal, equivalent to 6.4Mtpa of product coal, in 2018.