The company is continuing to trudge through the often slow approvals process with the submission of mining lease applications for its Springsure Creek project’s infrastructure corridor and Triumph Creek rail loadout facility in Queensland.

The two new applications will now await approval, along with Springsure Creek’s application for a mine area mining lease.

The new applications will create a direct services corridor and ensure no coal haulage occurs on public roads.

“The collaborative strategy we have adopted for engaging with all key stakeholders in relation to the Springsure Creek mine extends to our approach to the infrastructure corridor and Triumph Creek rail loadout infrastructure for the project,” Gray said.

“We will work with governments and other key stakeholders in the planning and development of this critical infrastructure to ensure that the Springsure Creek mine moves into production within current timeframes.

“Bandanna Energy is uniquely placed to become Australia’s next coal producer and generate substantial regional investment and local job creation in Emerald and nearby regional communities,” Gray added.

In September 2012, Bandanna Energy finalised an agreement with Acacia Coal for the development and operation of rail loadout infrastructure at Triumph Creek, to be located on portions of Acacia’s coal exploration tenement.

To be designed and operated for multiple users, the Triumph Creek facility will provide loading capacity for Bandanna Energy’s Springsure Creek project through to full-scale coal production.

“The company’s plan to transport coal from its Springsure Creek mine via a purpose-built private haul road or overland conveyor to rail loadout infrastructure is aimed at minimising the environmental impact of the project. The rail loadout facility will connect to the Bauhinia Line, through the Blackwater-Gladstone rail corridor to Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal (WICET) utilising infrastructure already in place and minimising the required capital expenditure for the project,” the company said in a statement.

Bandanna Energy’s Springsure Creek underground thermal coal project is scheduled to commence production in the first half of 2015 and includes an agriculture project above the proposed mine to demonstrate that underground longwall mining can co-exist with agriculture.