Latest news with #coal mine
SBS Australia
a day ago
- Business
- SBS Australia
Protesters rally against 'climate catastrophe' coal mine plan
Protesters have rallied outside a court opposing what is set to be one of Australia's biggest coal mines, saying the multibillion-dollar proposal will contribute to a "climate catastrophe". Several dozen people gathered on Monday to object to Whitehaven's Winchester South open-cut mine, comparing it with a 1960s proposal to dredge up the Great Barrier Reef to produce fertiliser. It came as the Land Court in Brisbane began hearing an objection against the proposal, which would extract 17 million tonnes of coal from the Bowen Basin each year. Who is opposing the mine proposal? Australian Conservation Foundation's Adam Beeson compared the proposed mine with reef dredging and oil drilling, ideas blocked by the courts decades ago as he addressed protesters outside. "What really is the difference between excavating coral and digging up coal, increasing the global temperature which causes coral bleaching and coral death?", Beeson said. He said his foundation along with the Mackay Conservation Group would tell the court the mine's return was "not worth this impact". Mackay Conservation Group climate campaigner Imogen Lindenberg said Winchester South could be the nation's biggest new coal mine. "If this mine goes ahead, it will create more pollution than Australia produces in one year," she said. "We are already living in a time of climate catastrophe. "Many folks' homes have been flooded, there are bushfires - it's not just us, it's all the beautiful threatened species." What has Whitehaven said? Barrister Saul Holt KC, acting for Whitehaven, said in his opening address that the Winchester South project would bring significant economic benefits. He said the mine had widespread community support and would bring $696 million in state royalties and 500 new jobs during construction and operations. "It's the right project, in the right place, by the right miner at the right time," he said. Holt said Winchester would also support manufacturing that was vital for Australia's transition to renewable energy.
CTV News
4 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Cape Breton's Donkin coal mine up for sale by U.S.-based owner
Workers repair the road leading to the Donkin coal mine in Donkin, N.S., on Monday Dec. 13, 2004. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan HALIFAX — An idle Cape Breton underground coal mine that has been plagued by rockfalls is reportedly up for sale. Nova Scotia-based Morien Resources Corp. receives a royalty from the Donkin mine, and says the mine's owner has announced it intends to explore a sale of its 100 per cent ownership in the operation. Attempts to reach mine owner Kameron Colliers ULC were unsuccessful. Morien owns a production royalty on coal sales from the mine that is binding and will continue if there is a change in ownership. The Nova Scotia company says it's unclear whether a successful sale will result in the mine restarting operations. Nova Scotia's government suspended operations at the mine in 2023 after two roof rockfalls, and allowed them to resume in March 2024 following a review by a third-party consultant. The mine, which remains idle, first opened in 2017 and was described by the province as the world's only operating subsea coal mine. It resumed operations in September 2022 after it was shuttered in March 2020 amid slumping coal prices and roof collapses that led to repeated stop-work orders. --- This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2025.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Cape Breton's Donkin coal mine up for sale by U.S.-based owner
HALIFAX — An idle Cape Breton underground coal mine that has been plagued by rockfalls is reportedly up for sale. Nova Scotia-based Morien Resources Corp. receives a royalty from the Donkin mine, and says the mine's owner has announced it intends to explore a sale of its 100 per cent ownership in the operation. Attempts to reach mine owner Kameron Colliers ULC were unsuccessful. Morien owns a production royalty on coal sales from the mine that is binding and will continue if there is a change in ownership. The Nova Scotia company says it's unclear whether a successful sale will result in the mine restarting operations. Nova Scotia's government suspended operations at the mine in 2023 after two roof rockfalls, and allowed them to resume in March 2024 following a review by a third-party consultant. The mine, which remains idle, first opened in 2017 and was described by the province as the world's only operating subsea coal mine. It resumed operations in September 2022 after it was shuttered in March 2020 amid slumping coal prices and roof collapses that led to repeated stop-work orders. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2025. The Canadian Press
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wyoming's first new coal mine in decades to extract rare earths
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The developer of what would be the first new coal mine in Wyoming in decades plans to process the fossil fuel to extract hard-to-get metals that are crucial for tech products and military hardware. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, former West Virginia U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, and Wyoming's congressional delegation are on the VIP list for a groundbreaking ceremony Friday at the Ramaco Resources, Inc., Brook Mine outside Ranchester in far northern Wyoming. Rare earth elements are a family of 17 metallic elements with unusual properties that make them useful for specific applications. Neodymium and dysprosium are used in the permanent magnets of wind turbines, lanthanum in electric and hybrid car batteries. Yttrium and terbium have critical military uses, including in targeting devices. China supplies almost 90% of the world's rare earths. Concern about continued access to the substances has been a focus of recent negotiations between China and the U.S., and led the Trump administration to try to encourage more production domestically. Rare earths aren't especially rare but so scattered they are difficult to bring together in useful quantities. Currently the only U.S. rare earths mine is at Mountain Pass in California. Analysis by U.S. national laboratories show the Brook Mine coal contains valuable quantities of the rare earths neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium, as well as the critical minerals gallium, scandium and germanium, according to a Ramaco letter to shareholders on July 1. 'We would intend to mine it here in Wyoming, process it here in Wyoming and sell it to domestic customers including the government,' Ramaco CEO Randall Atkins said Thursday. Manchin, who left office in January after not seeking re-election, joined the Ramaco board in April. No new Wyoming coal mine has opened in 50 years. Wyoming's coal industry instead has shrunk substantially since its peak over a decade ago, troubled as utilities switch to renewable energy and power plants fueled by cheaper natural gas. The Brook Mine, stalled in part by landowners worried about groundwater depletion, has been in the works for over a decade. Atkins originally envisioned it as a source of subbituminous power plant fuel, much like Wyoming's massive open-pit mines that supply about 40% of the nation's coal. A public company with metallurgical coal mines in Appalachia, Ramaco in recent years received Department of Energy grants to develop coal into carbon-based products such as carbon fiber. This year, it got a $6.1 million grant from Wyoming to build a rare earth and critical minerals processing plant. A consultant report released this week found that fully developing the mine and processing plant would cost around $500 million, a sum that could be recovered in five years if the rare earths can be extracted and sold. Ramaco also would sell the processed coal as fuel, Atkins said. Sign in to access your portfolio
Associated Press
11-07-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Wyoming's first new coal mine in decades to extract rare earths
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The developer of what would be the first new coal mine in Wyoming in decades plans to process the fossil fuel to extract hard-to-get metals that are crucial for tech products and military hardware. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, former West Virginia U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, and Wyoming's congressional delegation are on the VIP list for a groundbreaking ceremony Friday at the Ramaco Resources, Inc., Brook Mine outside Ranchester in far northern Wyoming. Rare earth elements are a family of 17 metallic elements with unusual properties that make them useful for specific applications. Neodymium and dysprosium are used in the permanent magnets of wind turbines, lanthanum in electric and hybrid car batteries. Yttrium and terbium have critical military uses, including in targeting devices. China supplies almost 90% of the world's rare earths. Concern about continued access to the substances has been a focus of recent negotiations between China and the U.S., and led the Trump administration to try to encourage more production domestically. Rare earths aren't especially rare but so scattered they are difficult to bring together in useful quantities. Currently the only U.S. rare earths mine is at Mountain Pass in California. Analysis by U.S. national laboratories show the Brook Mine coal contains valuable quantities of the rare earths neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium, as well as the critical minerals gallium, scandium and germanium, according to a Ramaco letter to shareholders on July 1. 'We would intend to mine it here in Wyoming, process it here in Wyoming and sell it to domestic customers including the government,' Ramaco CEO Randall Atkins said Thursday. Manchin, who left office in January after not seeking re-election, joined the Ramaco board in April. No new Wyoming coal mine has opened in 50 years. Wyoming's coal industry instead has shrunk substantially since its peak over a decade ago, troubled as utilities switch to renewable energy and power plants fueled by cheaper natural gas. The Brook Mine, stalled in part by landowners worried about groundwater depletion, has been in the works for over a decade. Atkins originally envisioned it as a source of subbituminous power plant fuel, much like Wyoming's massive open-pit mines that supply about 40% of the nation's coal. A public company with metallurgical coal mines in Appalachia, Ramaco in recent years received Department of Energy grants to develop coal into carbon-based products such as carbon fiber. This year, it got a $6.1 million grant from Wyoming to build a rare earth and critical minerals processing plant. A consultant report released this week found that fully developing the mine and processing plant would cost around $500 million, a sum that could be recovered in five years if the rare earths can be extracted and sold. Ramaco also would sell the processed coal as fuel, Atkins said.
