Hundreds of jobs saved as coal mine granted six-year lifeline

Sydney – The Mount Pleasant coal mine in New South Wales has secured a crucial six-year lifeline from the state government, averting its planned closure in December. The extension of mining approvals for MACH Energy's facility near Muswellbrook comes as the company fights a legal battle to overturn a High Court block on its proposed 22-year expansion project.

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It's quite damaging to people's psyche when they're constantly bombarded with this news that they could lose their job. People have mortgages, they've got families.

The approval also permits an increase in the annual extraction rate from 10.5 to 12.5 million tonnes of coal. This reprieve is vital for the mine's more than 500 employees, who face uncertainty as the company pursues a longer-term extension aiming for operations until 2048. Upper Hunter MP Dave Layzell emphasized the psychological and financial strain on workers facing potential job losses.

This extension was necessitated after a legal challenge by the Denman Aberdeen Muswellbrook Scone Healthy Environment Group (DAMSHEG) invalidated the mine's previous consent for a 22-year expansion. The Court of Appeal found the Independent Planning Commission failed to adequately consider the environmental and climate impacts of the exported coal's greenhouse gas emissions.

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We have to be winding back from coal. We can't be incrementally adding to this burden every few years just because the industry has failed to plan for a transition.

DAMSHEG president Wendy Wales expressed dismay, arguing that the extension pre-empts the High Court's decision and allows mining to continue despite environmental concerns. She stressed the need to transition away from coal and criticized the industry's lack of transition planning.

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This approval has pre-empted the High Court decision and provided them a pathway to continue if they lose. We need to know what that decision is before we allow mining to continue.