Middlemount Coal chairman Tim Crossley said the granting of ML 70417 was the last in a series of to-do objectives for 2011 to be ticked off by the company.
The objectives included the appointment of a mining contractor, completion of the environmental impact statement for expansion and production, commencement of mining and the completion of the project’s rail spur.
These would enable the project to progress from development to operation stage, he said.
“I’m very pleased to advise that with the grant of the new lease, each of these objectives has been achieved and the project is now well positioned to ramp up its production to 5.1 million tonnes per annum ROM by 2014,” Crossley said.
“The granting of the additional mining lease is another significant milestone for the project as it provides additional out of pit dump space to ensure that the total project resource can be fully developed.”
The mining lease application process and the recently completed environmental impact statement for Stage 2 of the project received no objections or submissions from members of the community or non-government organisations.
Middlemount Coal recently completed the 16.5km rail spur linking the joint venture project to the Goonyella rail network a month ahead of schedule, while final approval for the increased production of 5.1Mtpa is expected by mid-2012.
