Mining conglomerate Rio Tinto has lost another court battle over the proposed extension of its massive Warkworth open-cut coal mine, situated near Bulga in the Upper Hunter.
According to Chris Salisbury, the managing direct of Rio Tinto’s Coal Division, the re-application will contain a “significant change” in terms of mitigating effects caused by the mine.
These include offering to buy nearby properties, placing more land in a national park and spending four million dollars on regeneration of the Warkworth Sands Woodlands.
According to The Australia Institute, the court case was primarily won due to the rejection of the company’s economic modelling and a recognition that the expected economic benefits did not justify the environmental costs.
The court ordered Rio Tinto to pay Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association costs which thus far has totalled around $100,000 over the past four years – including around $30,000 in the Supreme Court alone.
Well this is some good news. Unfortunately the NSW government has changed the rules on approving coal mines so that economic benefit is the main criterion considered. All this impartial balancing up of pros and cons was not providing enough ‘certainty’ for mining interests, so cons have been demoted.
Background Briefing recently had an excellent exposé of the offsets policy. They concluded it is a total sham and is rorted left right and centre. This mine is a classic example – a previous expansion was only approved on the condition that land was put aside in a biodiversity offset. Now for some reason Rio Tinto wants to mine that very land – how can the lunacy of this not be obvious to one and all?