Federal Minister Cancels Two Proposed Coal Mine Projects

A bucket-wheel dumping soil and sand removed from another area of the mine in Newcastle, Australia, the world's largest coal exporting port, on Nov. 5, 2021. Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images

The Australian federal government has cancelled applications for two proposed coal mine projects in Queensland after the developers failed to provide the necessary environmental credentials and outline any impacts the projects will have on the environment.

The China Stone Coal Mine project and The Range Coal project were cancelled on May 5 by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.

The two coal mine projects were both set to be located in central Queensland.

The China Stone Coal mine was proposed by MacMines Austasia, a subsidiary of the Shanxi Meijin Energy Group in China, to construct and operate a coal mine in regional Belyando, Central Queensland at the northern end of the Galilee Basin.

In 2018, Queensland’s coordinator-general gave the project conditional approval, and then the environmental department requested MacMines for information on the environmental impacts, such as the potential impact on water resources and threatened animal species.

The company did not respond or provide an answer to the request.

The China Stone Coal mine project had estimated an investment of $6.7 billion (US$4.53 billion) would be needed to develop the project with a projected yield of up to 38 million tonnes per annum of thermal coal.

The second cancelled project—The Range Coal project proposed by Stanmore Resources—was also proposed to construct an open-cut coal mine and processing facilities.

The Range Coal would operate 25 km north of south-east of Wandoan, in the Surat Basin of central Queensland, and was projected to extract up to 6.3 million tonnes of thermal coal per annum.

This project would not only include a coal handling and preparation plant, but also a 26 km transport corridor, a train loading facility and associated power and water infrastructure.

In 2013, additional information was also requested by the government on the potential harm the project would have on the environment, but no response has been provided.

In 2020, both the coal mine developers indicated they wished to progress with the development and would submit the requested information; however, neither developer submitted the additional information requested.

Even though applications from both China Stone Coal and The Range Coal have been cancelled, they can reapply and start the assessment process from the very beginning.

Importance of Assessing Impact on the Environment

This is not the first time Plibersek has cancelled a coal mine project since her appointment to the ministry. Three other coal mine projects have been cancelled or withdrawn in the past few months under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999.

The first coal mine project to be cancelled by an environment minister was a coal mine project by Clive Palmer located near Rockhampton, Queensland.  This project was cancelled due to the close proximity to the Great Barrier Reef.

“I’ve been clear I will have zero tolerance for businesses who refuse to provide adequate information about the impact their projects will have on nature,” Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek told AAP on May 5.

“If companies aren’t willing to show how they will protect nature, then I’m willing to cancel their projects—and that’s exactly what I’ve done.”

Australian Conservation Foundation Chief Executive Kelly O’Shanassy said that companies have been ignoring government requests for critical information on how their proposals may impact the environment for too long.

Many companies are still “able to go ahead with their nature-wrecking proposals,” O’Shanassy said, reported The Guardian.

“It’s good to see an environment minister cancelling a coal project when a company fails to provide information about impacts on water and wildlife, but it again highlights the need for a strong, independent environmental protection agency that can make these sorts of assessments and decisions at arms’ length from the executive government.”

After the Albanese government announced the National Net Zero Authority to coordinate Australia’s clean energy transformation, O’Shanassy said in a media release that the clean energy revolution will still need to be managed properly. If “managed badly, it will result in a lot of damage to nature, so the authority must make sure the transition is done in a way that’s good for nature.”

“A transition that allows communities to help lead the way to a future beyond coal and gas will be a faster and more effective transition—and that’s better for our climate," O’Shanassy said.

“Communities will look to this authority to support, coordinate and complement existing state and regional transition planning processes, starting with the regions experiencing closures of coal-fired power stations.”

Future of Coal Mines Projects

Stanmore Resourced Chief Executive Marcelo Matos said although the project has been cancelled, their other tenure and approvals remain in effect, and Stanmore may reapply for approval again in the future.

“The Range is a legacy thermal coal resource from Stanmore’s IPO in 2009, and while it remains in our portfolio of reserves and options, our current focus has been on developing our metallurgical coal assets,” Matos said in a media release (pdf).

“Stanmore’s intention is to maintain the asset, including its tenure, and preserve our optionality going forward.

“We will continue to assess our options for The Range and seek to engage with Queensland and Commonwealth authorities to further progress the project.”

One of Stanmore’s projects—the Isaac Downs project—was brought into production in 2021 after Stanmore prioritised approvals and progressed the development of the project.

However, opposition resources spokeswoman Susan McDonald said that the reluctance to progress new mines shows an “anti-jobs and anti-investment culture is clearly now growing under the Albanese government.”

“Tanya Plibersek is treating a chiefly administrative act with the glee she reserves for her ongoing war on coal,” McDonald told AAP.

Opposition environment spokesman Jonno Duniam also added that its disappointing that the two projects won’t proceed, as such projects are important for the Australian economy.

In July 2022, the Environment Council of Central Queensland (ECoCeQ), represented by Environmental Justice Australia, launched the Living Wonders legal intervention to pressure the environment minister to reconsider 19 coal and gas proposals.

After cancelling the China Stone Coal Mine project and The Range Coal project, there are now 14 coal and gas proposals subject to legal intervention.

ECoCeQ president Christine Carlisle said in a media release that the environment minister should “show courage when assessing the remaining coal and gas proposals on her desk,” where “each and every one of them will have a devastating impact on our climate and our living wonders, so must be properly assessed.”