Whitehaven Coal calls out “unnecessarily protracted” processes as Narrabri Stage 3 approved

Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC) has welcomed the Federal Government’s approval of the Narrabri Stage 3 project, subject to conditions, per the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (Cth).

This comes after the Federal Government approved the extension of three NSW coal mines – Whitehaven Coal’s Narrabri underground mine Stage 3 extension project, Yancoal’s Ravensworth underground mine and MACH Energy’s Mount Pleasant optimisation project – guaranteeing more than 1800 jobs in the Hunter Valley and Narrabri regions.

The approval is cold comfort to Whitehaven Coal as the miner calls on governments to address the weak links in the project approvals process.

“Significant delays to this approval arising from unnecessarily protracted State and Federal Government assessment processes have in this case been exacerbated by indulging Green claims through the administrative and legal systems,” said Whitehaven Coal, in a statement issued this morning.

“This undermines Australia’s status as a destination for foreign investment – which for the Narrabri mine includes Japanese, Korean and Chinese joint venture partners – and curtails the economic contribution of our resources sector, which has underpinned Australia’s prosperity for decades.

“The EIS for Narrabri Stage 3 was lodged in October 2020 and the project is expected to extend the life of the mine from 2031 to 2044, support around 500 continuing jobs in regional NSW, and entail a significant economic benefit to the State.”