AFTER a tough first year in the job, ATH Resources chief executive Alistair Black has received a boost with the granting of permission for an extension to its Muir Dean mine in Fife that will prolong its life by eight months.

Fife Council approved ATH’s application to mine 350,000 tonnes of coal reserves from the Annfield extension.

The news came just days after the open-cast coal-miner announced takeover talks with several suitors had ended.

Mr Black said: “This planning approval provides continued employment for 70 direct employees in the area and is an important contributor to the future of the ATH business as well as the local economy in this part of Fife.”

Annfield is an extension to ATH’s existing operation at Muir Dean, which is expected to finish production in 2012.

It also operates Skares Road and Netherton in East Ayrshire and Glenmuckloch in Dumfries and Galloway

Extraction at Annfield, which sits east of the M90 motorway north of Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay, is expected to start in the spring of next year and last until May or June, 2013.

Fife Council, which had initially rejected ATH’s plans for Muir Dean in 2006 only to see its ruling overturned by the Scottish Government, gave the company a smoother ride this time, although it set a number of conditions.

Planning documents revealed that ATH had hoped to transport the extracted coal to Inverkeithing to put on the rail network but its plans were rejected by Network Rail.

Instead it will be shipped by road to ScottishPower’s Longannet power station.

The council has therefore asked that ATH, which is headquartered in Doncaster, pay £65,000 to upgrade a road leading from the site.

It also placed restrictions on when mining can take place and artificial lighting used.

Other conditions include a five-year aftercare scheme to restore the site.

ATH, which employs 250 people, has said that it will put in woodland, hedgerows, wetland and agricultural fields.

The news comes after a tough period for Mr Black, who was appointed as chief executive in July 2010. He faced takeover talks over the summer which only ended last week.

The company has also faced the discovery of heat-affected coal at its Netherton mine, lower-than-expected reserves at Glenmuckloch and problems dealing with old workings at Muir Dean.

ATH’s shares closed up 0.5p, or 1.2%, at 42.5p.