Whitehaven Coal complaint with ASIC over use of IEA coal demand forecasts

Whitehaven Coal may have provided investors with incomplete and misleading forecasts of future coal demand, according to a new complaint made to Australia's corporate regulator, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

A slide presentation the company announced to the ASX on November 16 is the subject of a complaint to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission by law firm Environment Justice Australia (EJA) and Greenpeace.

NSW mining, CSG proposals to face closer scrutiny of benefits under new rules

Companies lodging proposals for new mining and coal seam gas projects will have their claims of resulting benefits more closely examined following the release of new planning guidelines, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The guidelines, which take effect from Friday, require companies seeking new or modified mining and CSG projects to provide “clear, consistent and robust information” to back claims made in their environmental impact statements.

Judge freezes BHP Billiton's Brazil assets after dam disaster

BHP Billiton's Samarco mining operations could be frozen after a Brazilian court said the miner and partner Vale were responsible for billions of dollars of environmental damage after their Fundao tailings dam burst, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

A Federal Court judge in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais said he was “assigning environmental responsibility” to BHP Billiton and Vale as “indirect polluters” because they were controlling partners of Samarco, in a ruling last Friday.