SYDNEY--Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) cleared a hurdle toward its
hoped-for expansion of one of Australia's largest coal pits
Thursday, with state planning officials in New South Wales
recommending that a controversial extension of the mine be
approved.
Rio Tinto has spent more than five years chasing government
approvals for a 600 million Australian dollar (US$468 million)
expansion of the Warkworth open-cut mine, but has faced repeated
legal challenges that said the development would threaten
endangered ecological areas and adversely affect residents of the
nearby town of Bulga.
In April 2013, the New South Wales Land and Environment Court
overturned earlier state-government approval for the expansion,
given early in 2012, because the court wasn't convinced the
economic benefits outweighed the environmental and social costs.
Last year, that decision was upheld by the New South Wales Court of
Appeal.
However, after lobbying from industry, the state government
overhauled legislation to enable significant mining projects to
advance.
Rio Tinto lodged a new development proposal for the mine under
the new laws. That proposal also includes an offer to make more
than 1,800 hectares of land available to create a new national
park.
In recommending the project proceed, the New South Wales
Planning Assessment Commission cautioned it "will undoubtedly have
a range of adverse impacts on Bulga village and its community" but
said it would also provide economic benefits to the region and
state.
Rio Tinto said the planning commission's report would now be
considered by the state government, before consent for the project
is given.
The mine is part of the Mount Thorley Warkworth complex that
consists of two adjacent open-cut pits. Rio Tinto says the
expansion is needed to keep the mine, which has been running for
three decades, in operation.
"While the recommendation is a positive step for Mount Thorley
Warkworth, it is absolutely critical that a final decision is now
made as quickly as possible," said Mount Thorley Warkworth general
manager Mark Rodgers. "We are reaching the point where the shape of
our existing development consent footprint means the area we can
mine in will narrow over coming months, making it increasingly
difficult to maintain existing production and employment
levels."
Rio Tinto's plan to expand Warkworth, which supplies power
plants and steel mills in Japan, could keep it running for another
two decades and feed as much as 230 million metric tons of thermal
and semi-soft coking coal on to the global market.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires