Would-be coking coal miner Bathurst Resources has gained tentative approval from the Environment Court to go ahead with its Escarpment Mine project on the West Coast’s Denniston Plateau, though environmental groups say they will continue to fight the plan. The decision is a rare piece of good news for Bathurst, whose chairman last year bemoaned New Zealand’s resource consent appeals …

Meridian Energy says it is “unlikely” to reach a new electricity supply agreement with its largest customer, the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, which consumes around one-seventh of New Zealand’s electricity. The bombshell disclosure has the capacity to upset the government’s plans to partially privatise state-owned electricity company MightyRiverPower. Offer documents are due for release in about a fortnight, with listing …

Stocks on both sides of the Atlantic slid amid concern about Europe’s debt crisis spurred today by the apparent inability of Italian political leaders to agree on the formation of a new government. Meanwhile, Cyprus is preparing for a reopening of its banks tomorrow for the first time since the nation reached an accord with the EU for a financial …