PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Coal miner Whitehaven Coal is seeking approval to expand its Vickery project, in New South Wales, from the approved 4.5-million tonnes a year to up to ten-million tonnes a year.
Chairperson Mark Vaile told shareholders on Wednesday that the company was in the final stages of preparing to submit its environmental impact statement for the enlarged project.
If approved, the project was expected to generate about 500 jobs during the construction phase and about 450 jobs during operation, with the project expected to deliver more than A$1-billion in royalties to the New South Wales government over its mine life.
Whitehaven has previously said that timing for the start-up of the Vickery project would be market dependent, but was likely only to occur once the company’s Maules Creek mine was ramped up to its full capacity of 13-million tonnes a year.
Meanwhile, Vaile on Wednesday said that Whitehaven would continue to look for opportunities to add to the company’s project portfolio.
“We will continue to seek acquisition opportunities and new projects where we consider the Whitehaven team can add shareholder value. The company will seek opportunities in Australia that diversify our product range and infrastructure accordingly.”