COAL & Allied has applied to the state government to change the consent conditions for its planned Mount Pleasant open-cut coalmine near Muswellbrook.
C&A's interest in the new mine comes despite the federal government's proposed new resources tax.
C&A external relations manager Fiona Nicholls said the company was proceeding with planning work on its new projects but the company could not "invest major project capital until we can make a proper evaluation" of the tax.
Mount Pleasant was approved in 1999 but rising coal prices and the easing of the coal export bottleneck with Newcastle's third coal loader have led C&A to dust off the plans.
C&A said the company hoped to start mining by 2014.
In an application to the NSW Department of Planning not yet on display, C&A would ask for a two-year mine extension to 2022, and unspecified changes to "an infrastructure envelope" that would allow "greater flexibility to respond to engineering and environmental constraints".
It was also seeking to use the existing Bengalla mine rail loop instead of the proposed rail connection in the original 1999 consent.
Given the state government's rejection of the Bickham coalmine, the horse industry and environmentalists have said they will fight other new and expanded mines in the Hunter Valley.
But C&A studies general manager Antony Bijok said the mine would have significant benefits, including long-term employment for 300
mineworkers.
Email a friend