Muswellbrook Council has opposed Glencore’s Mangoola coal mine expansion planned for the Wybong Valley in New South Wales.
Glencore’s Mangoola Open Cut operation produces thermal coal suitable for export and domestic use. In 2020 it had mined over 100 million tonnes of the coal reserve.
Glencore is presently seeking approval for the Mangoola Coal Continued Operations Project (MCCO Project) to continue open-cut mining adjacent to the north of the existing mine.
Approval of the MCCO Project would enable the company to extract a further 52 million tonnes of coal through to 2030.
The council has formally objected to the expansion during a meeting with the Independent Planning Commission. A transcript of that meeting was published on the Independent Planning Commission’s website on 1 March, and the Commission is holding two assessment hearings this week.
Barrister Craig Leggatt spoke on the council’s behalf, detailing a litany of serious problems with the mine’s impacts on flora and fauna, water contamination, the social and economic future of the Shire, and Glencore’s “uncharacteristically poor” provision of information about the project.
“Muswellbrook Shire Council has a history of working collaboratively with coal mines in its local government area, and it’s done that to achieve community outcomes that are beneficial to the community; however, the time has been reached, in the opinion of the council, with the Continued Operations Project that enough is enough,” Mr Leggatt said.
Wybong Valley locals Margot and Michael White welcomed the council’s decision to oppose the mine expansion.
“Muswellbrook Council residents are those who already live with the impacts of mining and, although the council has been, until now, very supportive of mining, councillors have clearly realised that this project goes too far,” she said.
“This mine expansion imposes massive additional damage on our community, and does nothing to help us diversify to be prepared once the mine finally closes.”
Mr White said rather than expanding Mangoola, Glencore could be an industry leader and demonstrate how a coal mine could be closed without sacking workers.
“Glencore is the largest coal operator in the Hunter Valley and our view is we don’t think anyone who wants to keep a job should lose their job,” he said.
“Glencore has approval to continue mining for nine years without this extension, so it should be able, through natural attrition, rehabilitation work, and voluntary redundancies, to ensure people don’t unwillingly lose jobs from this.”
According to Lock the Gate Alliance, the expansion would only extend the mine’s approval for a little over a year, but would inflict twice as many blasts per week, double the number of ‘final voids’, would require nearly a third as much woodland clearing and emit nearly half as much greenhouse gas emissions (an additional 100 million tonnes) as the original mine proposal.
Approximately 350 hectares of native woodland would be cleared and critically endangered orchids removed. Some proposed biodiversity offsets are located in the Giant’s Creek area, which the State Government last year earmarked for release for coal exploration and, ultimately, further mining.