Whitehaven Coal’s Vickery Coal Mine in the Gunnedah Basin received approval to proceed from the New South Wales Government late yesterday.
The project is located about 25 kilometres north of Gunnedah adjacent to the haul road that Whitehaven currently uses to haul coal from the Tarrawonga and Rocglen mines to the Gunnedah CHPP.
A construction start date is yet to be set however the company says it’s, “unlikely to occur before the company’s flagship Maules Creek Project is fully ramped-up to its13Mtpa ROM rate.
The approval is for a project that can initially produce 4.5Mtpa ROM coal, with the coal to be transported along an existing haul road to Whitehaven’s Gunnedah Coal Handling and Preparation Plant (CHPP).
Whitehaven’s Managing Director and CEO, Paul Flynn said that the Vickery Project approval is a significant positive step for Whitehaven following on from the development of the Maules Creek project.
“Whitehaven can now seek to form a joint venture for this long life development which will produce Maules Creek quality coal”, Mr Flynn said.
Whitehaven acquired Vickery from Coal & Allied in February 2010. The Vickery assets comprise several mining and exploration tenements and approximately 3,450 hectares of associated land and water licenses.
The Project does not require further approvals from the federal government.
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