JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The New South Wales (NSW) government has reached an agreement with a group of 14 coal producers, which will support A$5-billion worth of investment in new port and rail infrastructure over the next four years.



Diversified giant BHP Billiton is one of the signatories on the agreement reached with the NSW government, over future long-term access to the Newcastle Port, where export capacity is expected to double to 180-million tons over the next six years.

Premier Nathan Rees said that NSW was set to reap an investment and jobs bonanza with the Hunter Valley’s coal producers agreeing to the government’s long-term coal export plan.



“This plan would support thousands of jobs each year and boost coal export revenue by an estimated $6,5-billion a year, by 2016,” he said.



Construction of new coal chain infrastructure is expected to generate an average of 1 700 direct jobs and 2 400 indirect jobs each year up until 2015, Rees said, adding that it will also unlock new mining activity in the Hunter region creating a further 3 600 direct and nearly 12 000 indirect jobs.

Ports Minister Joe Tripodi said that the reforms were guided by a commitment to grow total industry exports from the Hunter, to protect access rights for new and expanding mines, and to provide certainty over export capacity to support investment.

“These new arrangements will replace the Capacity Balancing System which saw export capacity at Newcastle allocated on an annual basis but failed to provide certainty for investment.

“This historic plan will give industry certainty over coal allocations beyond the end of each year,” Tripodi said.


He added that it would also guarantee access for new entrants.

The Hunter Coal Port Plan will be signed off by the government and export terminal operators in a signing ceremony next week, and Tripodi said that the new arrangement would start at the beginning of next year pending approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

The Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG), the shareholders of which include BHP Billiton, Peabody Coal, Felix NSW, Donaldson Coal, Whitehaven Coal Mining and Centennial Coal Infrastructure, now joined existing terminal owner Port Waratah Coal Services and its shareholders, including diversified miners Rio Tinto and Xstrata, which reached agreement with the government late last month.

BHP Billiton Energy Coal president Jimmy Wilson said the new agreement would ensure that the coal industry had long-term certainty over future access to port capacity, supporting the future expansion in the region.

BHP Billiton has already committed $390-million as part of its contribution to the development of stage one of NCIG.

The project, managed by NCIG, involved the construction of a 30-million ton a year export coal loading facility with a future option to expand to 66-million ton a year.

The port is located on Kooragang Island, in Newcastle, and would include a rail unloader, stockpile facilities, a ship loader and two berths in the south arm of the Hunter River.

Further, BHP Billiton recently announced a $260-million expansion of its Mount Arthur coal-mine, with the next stage of the mine's expansion currently in its community consultation phase.

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