26-05-2025
Approval for Glencore Australia's Ulan Coal Mine expansion near Mudgee
One of Australia's largest coal mines has received approval to expand its operations despite the project's potential impacts on the environment and endangered native wildlife.
The Ulan Coal Mine near Mudgee in the New South Wales central west has been allowed by the state's planning department to increase its underground operation.
It will be able to extract a further 18.8 million tonnes of coal and extend the life span of the site for a further two years until 2035.
The mine has approval to extract almost 330 million tonnes of ore over the next two decades.
A spokesperson for Glencore Australia, the mine's owners, said the company welcomed the state planning department decision.
"The modification will provide ongoing employment opportunities for people at Ulan Coal Complex," the spokesperson said.
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water had identified 21 native species that could suffer significant impacts as a result of the development, with 17 hectares of native vegetation to be cleared.
Biodiversity assessment reports found the endangered koala, brush-tailed rocky wallaby and a number of microbats among the native species likely to experience direct impacts on their habitat.
Mudgee District Environment Group president Rosemary Hadaway said the mine's expansion had become "a death by a thousand cuts".
The existing and extended mining area contains rocky sandstone cliffs that have been identified as suitable habitat for threatened microbat species.
More than 630 hectares of land is expected to gradually sink in the surrounding area due to the project.
Surveys found the large-eared pied bat and large bent-winged bat within the subsistence zone, which they used for roosting and breeding.
The report found subsidence-related rockfalls would impact breeding caves and roosting colonies, having an "adverse impact" on the endangered species.
"There's a breeding colony and that should receive maximum protection," Ms Hadaway said.
A condition of the approval will require Glencore Australia to introduce a "comprehensive bat monitoring program" and acquire offsets for predicted impacts on threatened microbat habitat.
However, Ms Hadaway said offsetting the impact on the bat's habitat would not work.
She said they would have "nowhere else to go" due to their unique sandstone environment.
A spokesperson for the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure said Glencore Australia must identify any bat sites above mining areas, with the operations to be separately assessed and approved by the department prior to mining.
The NSW Department of Planning determination said the development's impacts on native wildlife could be "avoided, managed and offset".
It has imposed 13 conditions on the approval to mitigate impacts on biodiversity, water, greenhouse gas emissions and Aboriginal cultural heritage.
Ms Hadaway said there was no way the project could mitigate against its effect.
"Monitoring tells you when damage has occurred and that's beyond the point of no return," she said.
The assessment determined that emissions from the project would reflect less than 0.1 per cent of the state's greenhouse gas targets in 2030 and 2035.
Glencore Australia will be required to prepare a Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Plan, in consultation with the Environment Protection Authority, within the next six months.
