The New South Wales Independent Planning Commission (IPC) has approved, with conditions, an extension of the Mangoola and Tahmoor coal operations. Located in the upper Hunter Valley, Mangoola Coal Operations Pty Ltd., a subsidiary of Glencore Coal, sought approval to establish a new open-cut mining area to the north of existing operations at its Mangoola mine, 20 kilometers (km) west of Muswellbrook. An additional 52 million metric tons (mt) of raw coal would be extracted over approximately eight years, with operations to cease at the site in December 2030 — a 13-month extension to the company’s existing development consent.
The IPC also granted development consent for a proposed extension for Tahmoor, which is located near Wollongong, imposing stringent conditions to improve environmental and social outcomes.
Tahmoor Coal Pty Ltd., a subsidiary of SIMEC Mining, sought approval to extract 33 million mt of raw coal over 10 years from 12 new longwall panels to the south of its existing operations, between the Bargo and Tahmoor townships, 75 km southwest of Sydney. Final product, mostly (90-95%) coking coal, would be processed using existing and upgraded surface infrastructure and transported by rail, primarily to the Port Kembla Coal Terminal for export.
