The authorities in Australia recently approved the extension of operations at Whitehaven Coal’s Narrabri, MACH Energy Australia’s Mount Pleasant and Ashton Coal’s Ravensworth thermal coal mines in New South Wales, Bloomberg reported. The Narrabri underground mine was granted permission to operate until 2044 and Mount Pleasant to 2048.
Whitehaven welcomed the news for its Narrabri Stage 3 Project, which the company said had experienced significant delays due to unnecessarily protracted State and Federal Government assessment processes, which exacerbated by indulging Green claims through the administrative and legal systems. This undermines Australia’s status as a destination for foreign investment – which for the Narrabri Mine includes Japanese, Korean and Chinese Joint Venture partners – and curtails the economic contribution of our resources sector, which has underpinned Australia’s prosperity for decades.
The EIS for Narrabri Stage 3 was lodged in October 2020 and the project is expected to extend the life of the mine from 2031 to 2044, support around 500 continuing jobs in the region in New South Wales, and entail a significant economic benefit to the state.
Whitehaven’s high quality thermal coal has an important role to play in supporting global energy security during the multi-decade energy transition, particularly in Asia where there continues to be strong demand for its use in high-efficiency, low-emissions, coal-fired power stations.
