PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Rio Tinto subsidiary Coal & Allied on Monday warned that some 1 300 jobs might be in jeopardy after the New South Wales Land and Environment Court overturned a 2012 approval to expand the Warkworth project.

The Warkworth extension project was approved in 2012 following a two-and-a-half year approval process, Coal & Allied said.

The New South Wales Department of Planning at the time recommended approval and referred the project to an independent Planning Assessment Commission, comprising Commissioners expert in their field, who conducted public hearings before approving the project on behalf of the state government in February 2012.

The project’s approval was also supported by the Office of Environment and Heritage, as well as other state regulatory agencies, and obtained approval from the Commonwealth Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Climate.

Coal & Allied acting MD Darren Yeates said on Monday that the overturned approval was a blow to the company’s plans for the Mount Thorley Warkworth mine and the jobs of the 1 300 people who work there, at a time when the Australian coal industry was struggling to remain globally competitive.

“It is also a set-back for hundreds of suppliers across the Hunter Valley and New South Wales who do business with Mount Thorley Warkworth mine and will directly impact the region's economy.”

Yeates noted that an overturning of a government decision, which followed rigorous processes, showed that the planning system was failing to deliver timely and predictable outcomes.

“This is significantly obstructing investment and job creation in New South Wales,” he warned.

"We will now need to conduct a review of this judgement to determine our options. We will also undertake a thorough review into the viability of the Mount Thorley Warkworth operation.

“This will include looking at other development options; however, this would require a significant capital investment in an environment where many Australian coal mines are struggling to survive.”

The extension project would have seen the Mount Thorley Warkworth project continue operations for a further 21 years, to 2033, producing some 18-million tons a year of run-of-mine coal.

Coal & Allied has said that the extension was critical to the ongoing employment of the Mount Thorley Warkworth workforce, and would have created an additional 150 jobs.