Under the terms of access arrangement, the company will make first payment to DOC, as part of the $22m compensation package over five years.
The company plans to proceed with earthworks and site preparation to commence production once global coking coal prices recover.
Scheduled to commence from 1 July 2014, initial activities will include site clearing, establishing water management dams and drainage systems, installation of coal stockpile areas, site roads and basic infrastructure.
Bathurst expects to recover about 35,000 tons coal in the first six months of the site works.
Coal recovered during initial construction phase will be sold in domestic market as well as exported to coke and steel producers in Japan, India and other Asian markets.
Bathurst Resources managing director Hamish Bohannan said: "This initial construction phase is the important first step in developing a full scale export coking coal operation at Buller."
Conservation Minister Nick Smith said that the AEO is valid for six months.
The company will have to submit another 12-month work program to consider another AEO and this will be continued every year for the life of the mine, Smith added.
