Whitehaven Coal falls to $82m loss A court challenge by environmentalists has forced Whitehaven Coal to again delay planned first sales from a new coal mine, as lower prices forced the company into the red. Chief executive Paul Flynn insists the court challenge to the approval of the Maules Creek mine in NSW will not stop the project and is merely a frustrating niggle. But it is the latest setback for the $767 million project that is crucial to the company's future. Whitehaven needs the large jump in high quality coal volumes that Maules Creek would bring to get it back into profitability, as it swung to a loss of $82 million in the 2012/13 financial year. That was down from the previous year's $62.5 million profit. Mr Flynn said he was confident extra volumes, better coal prices and a lower Australian dollar would improve earnings, but said he does not expect an improvement in prices in the short term. Maules Creek would be a game-changer for Whitehaven, producing 10.8 million tonnes of thermal and coking coal a year, compared to the 9.0 million tonnes produced by Whitehaven last year. Environmentalist opponents have launched Federal Court action, which will be heard next month, forcing Whitehaven to delay its expectation of first coal sales from Maules Creek to early 2015, from its earlier forecast of the second half of 2014. But Mr Flynn said he was confident the action would fail and would be resolved within two months. "It is effectively time wasting and they have succeeded in doing that but it will not stop the project," he told AAP. There is no question about the quality of the project, the merit of the project and it is a terribly frustrating, excruciating waste of resources that our shareholders are bearing. Morningstar analyst Gareth James said shareholders would not long accept Whitehaven posting losses, instead of $100 million-plus profits as they are expected to. "Until Maules Creek actually comes through, it is just a promise," Mr James told AAP. There's a whole bunch of things that can go wrong: project delays; cost blow-outs and I wouldn't be surprised if that happens. Whitehaven bought Maules Creek through its merger with Nathan Tinkler's Aston last year. Mr Tinkler's former financial backer and now Whitehaven shareholder Raymond Zage had joined its board, it was also revealed on Tuesday. Whitehaven shareholders have already endured significant pain. The share price fell by two cents to $2, well down from a price of $6.60 in April 2011.