Name of the Project
New Acland Stage 3 coal mine expansion project.

Location
Queensland, Australia.

Project Owner/s
New Acland Coal (NAC), a subsidiary of the New Hope Group.

Project Description
NAC currently operates the existing New Acland coal mine as a 4.8-million-tonne-a-year opencut coal mine on mining lease (ML) 50170 and ML 50216. The mine has reserves that will allow for current operations to continue until about 2017.

The project will expand the mine’s yearly output from 4.8-million tonnes to 7.5-million tonnes and will extend the operation’s life beyond the current end-date of 2017/18.

The revised coal project proposes to develop Stage 3 of the New Acland mine, which involves the extension of the mine’s operating life to about 2029, including the progressive development of two new resource areas within the area covered by Mining Development Licence 244, also covered by ML Application 50232.

The two resource areas will be developed sequentially and combined with the current operations, will supply up to 7.5-million tonnes a year of saleable product coal for the export and domestic markets until about 2029.

Key features of the project include:

• developing parts of the Manning Vale and Willeroo resource areas;
• upgrading the existing coal handling and preparation plant and supporting infrastructure;
• constructing a new coal load-out facility on the mining lease and an estimated 8 km rail spur, as a result of the relocation of the existing Jondaryan coal load-out facility;
• roadworks and constructing water management structures; and
• relocating and potentially upgrading the power supply to the revised project.

The Acland town area, including Tom Doherty park, the War Memorial and the Acland No 2 colliery and utility services, will be maintained over the life of the revised project.

The closest point of potential mining operations will be at least 10 km away from Oakey, compared with the 7 km previously proposed.

The land disturbed for mining activities will be reduced by more than half, compared with the original Stage 3 proposal.

Veneering to coat all transported coal leaving the mine by train as a measure to reduce the potential for coal dust coming from trains will continue.

Lagoon Creek will not be diverted as previously proposed. Operations will continue to be self-sufficient for water, with water continuing to be bought from Toowoomba’s Wetalla wastewater reclamation facility. Only about 20% of the Wetalla water is bought by NAC.

Production levels from the New Acland mine will be reduced by at least 25% to 7.5-million tonnes a year, from the originally proposed ten-million tonnes a year.

Potential Job Creation
The expanded operation will result in employment for 260 people at the mine, while ongoing employment will result in up to 435 jobs and 2 300 indirect jobs.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
A$900-million.

Planned Start/End Date
About 2.5 years will be required to complete the design, build and other related activities to facilitate the revised project.

Latest Developments
The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has urged the Queensland government to immediately approve the New Acland Stage 3 project, following a Court of Appeal decision in favour of miner New Hope.

The Court of Appeal ruled against an appeal made by activist group Oakey Coal Action Alliance, which challenged a Supreme Court decision to set aside a ruling from the Land Court, refusing mining lease applications for the New Acland Stage 3 project.

The ruling comes after New Hope laid off 150 staff at its New Acland operation, as approvals for the Stage 3 expansion dawdled.

New Hope has consistently called on the state government to advance approvals for the Stage 3 expansion, with CEO Andrew Boyd saying that with the Appeals Court ruling now in place, there is nothing standing in the way of the state government awarding the approvals.

 “It’s time for the Premier to end the uncertainty,” Boyd has said.

QRC CEO Ian Macfarlane has echoed this call, saying that there can be no more hold-ups or delays in gaining approvals.

“The New Acland Stage 3 mine should go ahead, securing the jobs of the 150 workers who are facing redundancy because of more than ten years of delays,” Macfarlane said.

“There is a precedent for the government to act. In 2007, Anna Bligh’s government legislated to guarantee operations at Xstrata’s Wollombi project, in Central Queensland, in response to a court ruling.

“This is in sharp contrast to the [current] government, which has refused to act to save the jobs of 150 workers at the Acland mine . . .

“. . . government doesn’t have to take that extra step to legislate, it could simply approve the mining lease and associated water licence to allow the expansion to go ahead.” 

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Not stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
New Acland Coal, tel +61 7 3418 0500, fax +61 7 3418 0355 or email aclandinfo@newhopegroup.com.au.