Supreme Court reject anti-mining appeals to the Alpha coal project

The Supreme Court rejects appeals from anti-mining activists to environmental approvals for the Alpha coal project. The Court ruled that the project has continued to follow and comply with all regulatory and legal processes.

The proposed Alpha coal mine will be a surface mine producing 32 million tpa for over 30 years from a JORC compliant resource of 1.8 billion t, with 1.2 billion tonnes of reserve.

The Supreme Court also rejected an appeal to the previous decision of the Land Court, and the Environmental Authority for GVK Hancock’s proposed Alpha coal mine.

GVK Hancock is pleased with the ruling and has stated it intends to move forward with the project and create thousands of jobs for the region and State. The development of the project will create 5000 jobs during the three years of construction and over 2000 long-term jobs throughout over 30 years of operations.

The company has invested tens of millions of dollars and thousands of man hours assessing, planning and engaging with communities to reach achieving approvals, which included around 300 collaborative scientific studies, involving over 500 specialist consultants.

The company plans to continue working with the government to meet specific requirements in order to be provided with the grant of the Mining Lease for the project. Once approved, it will commence coal offtake agreements with customers and complete all financial agreements before commencing construction.

Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/exploration-and-development/04092015/supreme-court-reject-anti-mining-appeals-to-the-alpha-coal-project-2813/