Suvarna Garge (Editor)

Shenhua Watermark coal mine

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Location
  
Breeza

Country
  
Australia

Company
  
Shenhua Group

State
  
New South Wales

Products
  
Coal

Shenhua Watermark coal mine wwwabcnetaunewsimage66074943x2700x467jpg

Question about shenhua watermark coal mine jeremy buckingham 10 september 2014


The Shenhua Watermark coal mine is a proposed coal mine in the Liverpool Plains of New South Wales, Australia.

Contents

The project is located approximately 25 km south-east of the town of Gunnedah, near the village of Breeza and carried out by state-owned Chinese mining company Shenhua Group. Coal is to be shipped through the port of Newcastle.

The project is controversial because of the location in the Liverpool Plains, a primary agricultural region of Australia. It is named after the nearby Mount Watermark.

Question about shenhua watermark coal mine 11 september 2014


Project

The project commenced in 2008 with the granting of an exploration licence, at the cost of A$300 million.

The project, valued at A$1 billion, once operational, is expected to extract 10 million tonnes of coal per year and have a 30-year live span. It has been controversial because of its location, the Liverpool Plains, often described as the food bowl of Australia. It will cover 35 square kilometres and consist of three large extraction pits.

The project was conditionally approved by Federal Environmental Minister Greg Hunt but this approval was severely criticised by Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce who is also the local MP for the area. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has pointed out that the mine is not located on fertile soil but rather on hill country.

The mine is expected to destroy almost 800 hectares of an endangered ecological community, mostly box-gum woodland as well as other woods. Local farmers in the region have threatened legal action and civil disobedience against the mine should the project go ahead, calling the mine "agricultural genocide".

References

Shenhua Watermark coal mine Wikipedia