West Cumbria Mining said it was preparing to start work on its £200 million mine next year and it was confident the project was viable.
The firm wants to build a mine for coking coal off the coast of Whitehaven.
The controversial plan has been the subject of a Planning Inquiry and now campaigners against the mine are mounting a legal challenge after the Government ruled it could go ahead.
In an update from West Cumbria Mining, it said it had been working through 2023 and a range of activities had progressed.
It said “Although these may not be visible on site at this time, are critical in ensuring the project is ready and set up to make the next key step to commence site enabling works and for the main decline tunnel drives to proceed.
“West Cumbria Mining and its investors remain highly confident in the viability of the project, which is stronger than ever.
“For example, recent independent expert analysis of the global metallurgical coal market has identified that this critical raw material will be required to support steelmaking throughout the transition to net zero over the next few decades.”
It claimed most of the commentary surrounding the project during 2023 had been misleading.
It added: “West Cumbria Mining remains wholly focused on delivering this significant world class scheme in full and shall continue to work to support local people and businesses across the West Cumbrian economy, with an investment of more than £200m, all privately funded, during construction.”
