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 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 – 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. NAC buys only about 20% of the Wetalla water.

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
Once approved, the New Acland Stage 3 project will create 187 new jobs within the first six months and 487 jobs within 18 months.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
A$900-million.

Planned Start/End Date
First mining is on track for late 2023, and first coal shipment is still expected in quarter one of 2024.

Latest Developments
New Hope Corporation is facing another legal challenge to its New Acland Mine Stage 3, with environmental group Oakey Coal Action Alliance (OCAA) having launched a challenge.

The OCAA is challenging the Queensland government’s grant of an associated water licence in the Land Court, and is aiming for operations by New Acland Coal to be ceased, including the mining of coal, pending the outcome of the appeal.

In the absence of undertakings, OCAA will consider bringing a stay application in the Land Court to prevent New Acland Coal from acting on the associated water licence (AWL) granted by the Queensland government.

New Hope was granted the AWL for the New Acland Stage 3 development in October 2022, marking the final primary approval requirement to allow for the restart of mining operations at the New Acland mine.

New Hope told shareholders on May 9 that while the OCAA’s legal challenge in the Land Court was against the Queensland government, New Acland Coal had been a respondent to the Land Court proceedings, filing an application for orders to amend certain conditions in the AWL. New Acland Coal considers this to be inconsistent with the terms of other approvals for the mine, including the Coordinator General’s stated conditions and the mining lease for New Acland Stage 3.

“New Acland Coal’s preference would have been to resolve any inconsistencies in approval terms directly with the relevant Queensland government departments; however, it will follow the Land Court processes in light of OCAA’s new legal challenge,” New Hope has said in a statement.

The company has said that it intends to progress the ramp-up of operations at New Acland while it assesses and responds to the new legal challenge.

“The Queensland government has confirmed that New Acland Stage 3 stacks up environmentally, socially and financially, and has praised New Acland Coal for its focus on community and local employment, and for the success of New Acland Coal’s award-winning rehabilitation works over the life of the project to date,” New Hope chairperson Robert Millner has said.

“Despite this, OCAA’s new legal challenge will see New Acland Stage 3 return to the Land Court for a fourth time, and New Acland Coal will be forced to spend yet more time and resources in responding to the ‘lawfare’ tactics of OCAA.

“We are hopeful that the Queensland government can see a way to intervene to prevent yet more litigation in the Land Court,” he has added.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
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.