Queensland’s state government has approved mining leases for New Hope Group’s controversial expansion to stage three of its New Acland mine – an open-cut thermal coal mine in the state’s Darling Downs – after years of delay due to legal action.
The coal miner has campaigned for the expansion for more than a decade, which came to an end late this August when Queensland Resource Minister Scott Stewart issued a two-line media release stating he had “approved the mining leases for stage three” of New Acland “after careful consideration”.
The statement also noted the project required an associated water licence from the Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing, and Water.
The independent assessment of the expansion included the Land Court of Queensland’s recommendation that the leases be granted, and follows the issue of the amended Environmental Authority in June 2022 after a separate independent assessment by QLD’s Department of Environment and Science.
New Hope had applied to expand output from 4.8 million tonnes up to 7.5 million tonnes a year for another 12 years, at the site northwest of Toowoomba and ten kilometres from the town of Oakey.
The mine’s last coal reserves were exhausted in November last year, but the current approval would extend its life until 2034.
Earlier this month, Toowoomba mayor Paul Antonio had called for the uncertainty over the mine’s future to end.
Antonio said: “This will end more than a decade of court battles and delays in approvals that have had a negative effect on the mine’s long-term operations – with several hundred redundancies at the mine in November 2021 – not to mention Oakey township and its surrounding communities,” the mayor said at the time.
“If the mine expansion is approved, Council firmly expects that New Hope will quickly revive operations at the site with many more jobs created as a result.”
New Hope chair Robert Millner said the development was welcome and long-awaited news.
He said: “New Hope and the local communities around Acland and Oakey are now only one step away from restarting the New Acland mine where there has been mining activity for over 100 years.
“New Acland Stage 3 stacks up environmentally, socially and financially and is consistent with and delivers on the recently released and extensive Queensland Government Resources Industry Development Plan.
“Unfortunately, after 15 years of seeking approvals, New Hope remains at risk of ongoing delays caused by objectors utilising the court system to engage in ‘lawfare’ to slow down the approval process, regardless of the merits.
“We are hopeful that the Queensland Government can see a way to finally approve New Acland Stage 3 with certainty to secure jobs in the region and significant economic benefits for Queensland.”
The mine has been under investigation since 2018 over ‘alleged unauthorised disturbance’ in an area known as west pit.
Recently, the Department of Environment and Science announced it had accepted an environmental undertaking proposed by New Hope Group, which would see them commit $2 million to habitat rehabilitation to avoid the matter going to court.
With the mine close to farming land, there has been challenges to the expansion on environmental grounds in the Queensland Land Court.
Oakey Coal Action Alliance secretary Paul King said the approval was against the spirit of the times.
King continued: “And it’s against the message that the electorate sent the government very firmly at the last federal election.
“We need to make sure that we as a community look after our land – these things are not served by Acland stage three going ahead.”
King said he was horrified – but unsurprised – to learn the department had granted environmental approval to extend the mine, particularly off the back of the department agreeing to the rehabilitation trade-off.
King said the anti-coal alliance had no confidence that the developer would adhere to spirit and terms of its environmental approval, and said it was incumbent on resources minister Scott Stewart to simply reject the project.
The Toowoomba-based campaigner said the project would “eat up good farmland and steal groundwater” on the Darling Downs, an area renowned for its rich volcanic soils and productive agriculture, and set back the transition away from coalmining.
“Oakey is recovering from having 20 years of mining,” he said. “The prosperity present today hasn’t been seen in decades.”
New Acland mine’s general manager Dave O’Dwyer said they had entered care and maintenance in November 2019 and were excited to get back up and running.
O’Dwyer said: “This approval puts us one step closer to bringing back a workforce and getting everything working again – it will take a number of months for us to get back to full tilt.”
O’Dwyer added the historic development followed eight months of consultation between the company and key stakeholders, and meant that Water Minister Glen Butcher could now grant the associated water licence.
He said: “The granting of New Acland stage three’s Mining Leases is a watershed moment in the long running approvals process.
“Minister Stewart’s decision is proof the Queensland Government believes the project makes sense environmentally, socially and financially.”
Queensland LNP Senator Susan McDonald, the Federal Shadow Minister for Resources, urged that this licence now be expedited.
She said: “New Acland Stage 3 is already the most scrutinised resources project in Queensland history and I urge the State Government to finally grant the water licence and bring certainty to all the people who have been left in limbo by the continuous court cases and bureaucratic delays.
“I congratulate the owners of New Acland mine for staying the course and resisting one of the most concerted efforts by environment groups seen in Queensland to kill this project at every step.
“This is good news for hundreds of workers on the Darling Downs and good news for Queensland’s economy at a time when the State’s international reputation for investment attractiveness has dropped alarmingly.”
