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NSW backs approval for coal mine to double production

Campbell Kwan

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The NSW government has recommended that the state’s Independent Planning Commission approve the expansion of a coal mine in Mount Pleasant, based in the Hunter region.

The project involves the coal mine increasing its production to 21 million tonnes a year, and the extension of the mine’s life till 2048. The coal mine is currently allowed to extract up to 10.5 million tonnes per year.

The NSW Department of Planning and Environment recommended the coal expansion despite 56 per cent of the 250 public submissions it received opposing the project. It also acknowledged existing community concerns about the greenhouse emissions, dust and noise from the project.

“The department has carefully weighed the impacts of the project against the significance of the identified coal resources and the socio-economic benefits associated with continued operation of Mount Pleasant until 2048,” the department wrote in its recommendation.

Earlier today, Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher said his company was seeking to accelerate the development of its controversial Narrabri coal seam gas project in NSW amid an energy supply crunch building across the eastern states.

this is bullish for the sector (afr)