The New Acland Stage 3 coal project of ASX-listed New Hope Group moved a step forward on Tuesday, with the Queensland government granting the project environmental approval.
The coal miner has been battling to gain approval for the Stage 3 development of its New Acland mine and was earlier backed by the Queensland Land Court, which recommended that the mining leases and environmental authority applications for the project be granted.
New Hope said that it continued to work with representatives from various government departments to obtain mining leases and the associated water licence.
The Queensland Resources Council has put pressure on the government to finalise approvals for New Acland Stage 3, amid a spike in coal prices owing to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. The organisation previously argued that delays in finalising approvals were costing jobs, hurting the Darling Downs economy and undercutting Australia’s capacity to supply global markets at a time when its commodities were needed most.
New Hope subsidiary New Acland Coal currently operates the existing New Acland mine as a 4.8-million-tonne-a-year opencut coal mine, however, the mine’s reserves are depleted. The Stage 3 expansion project will increase the mine’s yearly output to 7.5-million tonnes and will extend the operation’s life by 12 years beyond the current end-date of mid-2020.
Once approved the New Acland Stage 3 project will create 187 new jobs within the first six months, 487 jobs within 18 months and inject A$7-billion into the economy.