In November, Xstrata received state government approval to add the Ulan West longwall operation and an open cut extension to the mine and allow mining for the next 21 years, effectively doubling production from its previous limit of up to 10 million tonnes per annum.

Under the approval, the resumed open cut mining at Ulan cannot extract more than 4.1Mtpa of raw coal while the whole complex cannot export more than 20Mt in a calendar year.

But Hunter Environment Lobby's president Jan Davis claims the effects of the mine, which is located at the headwaters of the Goulburn River, will be felt all the way to the coast.

"It's already a massive mine, it's more than 10 million tonnes per annum of coal," the ABC quoted her as saying.

"The plan that the government has given them is to go ahead and double that size to 20 million tonnes per annum and there's been no rigorous scientific look at the effects on the environment or on communities at all, it's just open slather, go right ahead and double your size.

"Those conditions (by the NSW Department of Planning) from our observations haven't made one iota of difference to any of the mines that we've objected to so we're very sceptical about conditions having any real impact on the rate of take from the mine or any damage done to the environment.

"Ulan is a long way from the Lower Hunter but the effects will be felt all the way from Ulan all the way down to the sea and there are a lot of farms, there are a lot of communities, there are a lot of businesses that rely on the Hunter River from Ulan and the way down to the coast."

The lobby group has lodged an appeal with the Land and Environment Court, which has been adjourned to March.

The Department of Planning received 44 submissions on the project with none of the seven from public authorities objecting to it going ahead.

All but one of the remaining 37 submissions from the general public and special interest groups opposed it.

Objections were raised over the project’s potential impact on water, biodiversity, greenhouse gas, noise, transport and air quality.

There was also resistance to the project’s cumulative impact in the region, as Yancoal Australia’s emerging Moolarben mine is adjacent to the southeast and Peabody’s planned giant Wilpinjong mine is to the eastern end of that operation.

But the department is satisfied with the constraints it has placed under the Ulan project approval, with the ramped-up operation expected to have a significant subsidence impact on one privately owned property and to clear 409 hectares of vegetation.

Xstrata is expected to formalise its offer to pay the Mid Western Regional Council $4.525 million by the end of June 2011.

First longwall coal from the Ulan West project is expected in 2014, with an Xstrata spokesperson recently saying to ILN the existing Ulan No. 3 longwall has “a good 10 years left”

The project approval simplified administrative matters for the coal company.

The Ulan mine previously operated under 24 separate development consents but the approval in November covers all the surface and underground work ahead.

Total construction of Ulan West and the open cut extension is expected to employ 270 workers while the operational workforce of the finished mining complex is expected to hit 931, some 401 more than the existing Ulan longwall operation.

An Xstrata spokesperson told ILN the company would continue the various processes required to bring the new operations online.

A total of 238.6Mt will be extracted from the Ulan seam under the continued operations project with another 93Mt slated for the existing Ulan No. 3 longwall at depths of 200-330 metres.

The Ulan West longwall is approved to extract 126Mt at the shallower depths of 80-225m.

The longwall panel widths will be 400m.

The open cut extension will unearth 19Mt of coal at depths of 30-110m in a dragline, truck and loader operation.

The approval allows Xstrata to beef up the coal handling and processing plant to process up to 24.1Mtpa of raw coal.

While Ulan West can run until the end of August 2031, the open cut extension is expected to run for 7-11 years and the Ulan No. 3 longwall is expected to go for up to 18 more years under the proposed mining sequence.

To cater to the ramp-up, the Department of Planning has also allowed Ulan to send up to 10 fully laden coal trains per day, with the previous peak being two trains per day.

While Xstrata previously noted that the Ulan West development would cost $US1.1 billion, the department said the Ulan continued operations project was an $881 million capital investment.