Rio expressed “serious concerns” regarding the shortcomings of the NSW planning system, following the court’s decision to overturn the 2012 development consent for the project.
Rio acting managing director Darren Yeates said the project had been approved following a rigorous and transparent process spanning 2.5 years.
“This outcome is a blow to our plans for the Mount Thorley Warkworth mine and the jobs of the 1300 people who work there at a time when the Australian coal industry is struggling to remain globally competitive,” he said.
“It is also a setback for hundreds of suppliers across the Hunter Valley and New South Wales who do business with Mount Thorley Warkworth mine and will directly impact the region’s economy.”
Rio Tinto’s proposed Mt Pleasant project is now tipped to be shelved and speculation is mounting that it will divest its Hunter Valley operations to help repair its balance sheet.
The appeal against the mine extension was initiated by the Bulga-Milbrodale Progress Association.
In his judgement, Land and Environment Court chief judge Justice Brian Preston said the association's appeal should be upheld due to "the significant, diverse biological adversity, noise and dust and social impacts of the project".
"The project's impacts would exacerbate the sense of loss of place and materially and adversely change the sense of community of the residents of Bulga and the surrounding countryside," he said.
''I am not satisfied that the economic analyses relied on by Warkworth and the minister have addressed these environmental and social factors adequately.''
Yeates was scathing of the NSW approvals process after the judgement.
“The fact it has now taken three-and-a-half years to get an outcome on this project and that it can be overturned notwithstanding a rigorous government process shows that the planning system is failing to deliver timely and predictable outcomes,” he said.
“This is significantly obstructing investment and job creation in New South Wales.
“We will now need to conduct a review of this judgement to determine our options.”
The NSW Department of Planning recommended approval and then referred the project to an independent Planning Assessment Commission, which conducted public hearings before approving the project on behalf of the NSW government in February 2012.
Approval was also supported by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and other state regulatory agencies.
The project was also approved by the federal Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Climate, which considers matters of national environmental significance.
The federal approval included a significant biodiversity offset package that was endorsed by all relevant state and federal government agencies.
“We will undertake a thorough review into the viability of the Mount Thorley Warkworth operation,” Yeates said.
“This will include looking at other development options, however, this would require a significant capital investment in an environment where many Australian coal mines are struggling to survive.”
The Warkworth extension project was the continuation of operations at Mount Thorley Warkworth mine, within the footprint of Coal & Allied’s existing mining tenements and on land owned by Coal & Allied.
The extension was critical to the ongoing employment of Mount Thorley Warkworth’s existing workforce of more than 1300 people and would have created an additional 150 jobs over the life of the mine, according to the company.
Rio said the project included the long-term protection or rehabilitation of an area more than eight times the size of the land that would be disturbed by its coal mining activities.
