New Hope Group CEO Rob Bishop, Queensland Minister for Resources, Scott Stewart and New Acland Mine General Manager Dave O'Dwyer, at the official opening of the New Acland Mine. Picture: Lyndon MechielsenAfter more than a decade of clearing bureaucratic, political and legal hurdles, the New Acland coalmine has officially opened its $900m stage-three expansion.
Surrounded by farming country on the Darling Downs west of Toowoomba, the mine was officially opened by Queensland Resources Minister Scott Stewart on Wednesday, 16 years after miner New Hope lodged an application to expand the open-cut pit.
Its Australian owners expect to ship the first load of coal mined from the expansion in August.
“Today is a moment of celebration for our workforce, their families, local farmers, landholders, business leaders and the local community,” New Hope Group chief executive Rob Bishop said.
“I would like to congratulate and thank the Oakey and Darling Downs communities for standing side by side with New Hope Group over the past 16 years. Today … is reward for their perseverance, patience and belief.”
Described by New Hope as the “most scrutinised and assessed resources project in Queensland history”, the expansion has faced numerous setbacks but ultimately overcame them all when the Palaszczuk government signed off on the final environmental approval in April.
The expansion, which at times faced opposition from all sides of politics, became emblematic of Queensland Labor’s conundrum of trying to appease environmentalists and its Left faction while upholding its support of traditional blue-collar jobs.
