The New South Wales (NSW) state Labor government plans to introduce legislation to allow Australian producer Mach Energy to increase production at its 12.5mn t/yr Mount Pleasant thermal coal mine to 16.5mn t/yr until 2032, it announced today.
This comes after the nation's highest court in early October upheld a ruling that blocked the mine's expansion. Australia's High Court blocked Mach Energy's proposal to extend Mount Pleasant's operations from 2026 to 2048 and raise its annual run-of-mine (ROM) production limit to 21mn t/yr.
The 7 October ruling found that state regulators had breached NSW's planning rules by failing to consider imposing conditions to minimise downstream greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the required extent. The decision sent the project back to state authorities for reassessment.
The legislation proposed on 19 October will address the "unique legal uncertainty" arising from the High Court judgement, and is expected to be introduced in the next sitting fortnight, the government said. It includes a legal obligation for the mine to maintain current staffing levels of 826 permanent workers and contractors until 2032, protecting an estimated 400 jobs.
Without legislative intervention, Mach Energy said it would need to scale back production at Mount Pleasant, possibly putting hundreds of jobs at risk, the government said.
The proposed legislation will also place additional conditions on Mount Pleasant to minimise scope 3 emissions, in line with requirements placed on Glencore and Yancoal's recently-approved Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) mine. The HVO approval included conditions aimed at ensuring coal would only be sent to jurisdictions with policies to reduce GHG emissions in line with international climate agreements.
In August, Mount Pleasant was granted a separate approval which raised its approved extraction rate to 12.5mn t/yr from 10.5mn t/yr and extended its operations from 2026 to 2032.
The proposed legislation addresses Mount Pleasant's unique situation and will not be extended to any other mining projects, the state government said. It expects Mach Energy will continue to work through court processes to get approval to extend the mine's operations to 2048.
