PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Coal developer Whitehaven Coal was breathing a bit easier on Wednesday after the commonwealth Environment Department advised the miner that it would not pursue any allegations around the offsets package for the Maules Creek mine.
In November last year, environmental group Lock the Gate Alliance claimed that ASX-listed Whitehaven falsified information in its efforts to get environmental clearance for the proposed Maules Creek coal mine, in New South Wales.
Lock the Gate alleged that two new independent ecologists had confirmed that the coal miner provided both the state and federal governments with misleading information, with the ecologists claiming the biodiversity offset proposed by Whitehaven was mapped incorrectly, and contained a common vegetation type, not the endangered ecosystem claimed by Whitehaven.
However, an independent review of the offset package found that the documents were fully compliant with the project’s approval conditions. The Environment Department stated that no further action would be taken in relation to the matter.
“We welcome the fact that the government has dismissed the claim that our offset package was based on false and misleading information,” Whitehaven CEO and MD Paul Flynn said on Wednesday.
He added that the outcome was a significant endorsement of the methodologies applied by the company and the independent reviewer, and the substantial overall adequacy of the offset package being offered.
“The Department has indicated that it will work with Whitehaven to ensure that the final offset package reflects the overall proportion of the derived native grassland and woodland forms of Box Gum Woodland in the area being cleared, including the acquisition of additional offset property,” Flynn said.
The company’s current offset package provides for the conservation of around 13 000 ha of land in exchange for the disturbance of some 1 600 ha of land.
First coal from Maules Creek was expected in 2015, and Flynn said that the project was progressing on schedule. The $767-million Maules Creek operation received the green light in early July last year to extract some 13-million tons of coal a year.