New Acland Stage 3, New Hope Coal Mine Toowoomba.

The upcoming expansion of the New Acland Coal Mine, 35kms west of Toowoomba in the heart of the Surat Basin has been a hotly contested political topic since 2012. It has now been approved - so what are they spending, whose getting the action and when is it all happening?

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The New Acland Coal Mine is a New Hope Group Company, and is owned by New Acland Coal Pty Ltd. The Australian-owned energy company has been located in South East Queensland for more than 60 years and the current New Hope mine injects $300 million into Queensland’s economy each year. The expansion of the mine is set to inject a whopping $982 million into QLD’s economy over the next couple of years as the project ramps up to almost double its output from 4.5million tonnes per annum, to 7.5 Mtpa, taking its contribution to our economy to $520 million annually.

In early 2012, the LNP Government announced that it would not support Stage 3 of the Project in its current form, with leader Campbell Newman expressing concern about the impact of expansion plans on local townships and agricultural land. New Acland is located on land which was purchased from struggling landowners who were being affected by declining productivity and rural adjustment.­

New Hope subsequently began discussions with the State Government in the hope of finding a solution which would ensure all of the economic benefits and jobs related to the New Acland project could be maintained. The New Hope Group spent a long time consulting with the local community, and revised their plan to address community concerns. After the New Acland continuation project was revised, the New Hope Group received approval for the continuation of the project in December 2014, subject to 137 strict conditions.

The revised proposal releases 1400 hectares of the mining lease area and moves mining activities and rail load-out facilities further from nearby townships. The revision also ensures that Lagoon Creek will not be diverted, the train loading facility will be relocated to a remote site away from the township of Jondaryan, and New Acland will also be completely self-sufficient for water.

New Hope has also committed to a continual land rehabilitation program, so that the land can be returned to commercial viability later in its life. The company will also continue to monitor the air quality conditions both at the mine site, and in the township of Jondaryan.

Overall - the New Acland Stage 3 project is slated to:

Inject $12 billion into the national, state, and local economies over its lifetime.

Create 250 jobs in construction

Create 405 jobs in ongoing operations

Create 2,300 indirect jobs in suppliers and subcontractors to the mine

Develop parts of the Manning Vale and Willeroo resource areas

Upgrade existing coal handling and preparation plant and supporting infrastructure

Relocate the Jondaryan rail load-out facility approximately eight kilometres away from the town of Jondaryan and creation of a rail spur

Require additional roadworks, water management structures, relocation and potential upgrade of power supply.

Early works to commence sometime in 2015

The New Acland Stage 3 mine expansion will still require Federal environmental approval, but the project has so far been an excellent example of a resource company consulting with the local community, and reaching a compromise which will benefit the local and state economies for years to come. There has been a fair amount of pesimissm when it comes to QLD's mining industry, but New Acland and Carmichael Coal Mine are looking really promising in their ability to change demand for plant hire in the mining industry quickly. We reckon the guys at Adani could learn a thing or two about community consultation as they face challenges in the ramp up to their Carmichael Coal Mine.

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Image Source: New Hope Group