Bathurst Resource's Canterbury Coal Mine to close

The number of public submissions on the Canterbury Coal Mine expansion plan has now reached about 630 with a hearing date yet to be set. ​Photo / Supplied

A controversial mine that extracts 100,000 tonnes of coal a year in Canterbury will close.

About 35 jobs will be lost from Bathurst Resources closing its Canterbury Coal Mine near Darfield.

The company has blamed the cost of regulatory processes for the closure.

Acting CEO Russell Middleton said job losses will be staged over the next year, with workers retained with the company where possible

He said Bathurst is disappointed as it had worked hard since buying the mine in 2013 to turn it into a well-run operation.

The mine will continue supplying coal to Fonterra's Darfield milk processing site until June.

It comes after the company's application to expand the coal mine by 18ha.

Environment Canterbury recieved about 630 submissions in relation to the application, most of which opposed the move.

Forest and Bird was one of the organisations opposing the expansion.

A spokeswoman said it was concerned about the ecological and environmental impacts.

"Our concerns are around freshwater contamination in the already stressed Selwyn Waikirikiri catchment, and the loss of native species and habitat, especially wetlands.

"We are not surprised at the number of submissions.

"We have had concerns about the expansion of Bathurst's Malvern Hills coal mine for some time," she said.

- Additional reporting starnews.co.nz