AUSTRALIAN Pacific Coal could appeal rejection of an expansion plan it says is necessary to make reopening mothballed Dartbrook coal mine financially viable.
The company advised the Australian Stock Exchange last week it could appeal the rejection in the Land and Environment Court, an option open to it until early November.
In a note to the ASX the company said the Independent Planning Commission rejected extending mining approval until 2027, despite the Department of Planning in January finding impacts of a five-year extension of the original 2022 approval date are "acceptable" and "approval", subject to conditions of consent.
"Australian Pacific Coal has previous stated, and the IPC acknowledged, the proposed five-year extension of the approval period was required to justify the capital expenditure involved in recommissioning the mine," the company said in its note on September 11.
"Under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act an appeal against the determination of the IPC is available for three months and accordingly Australian Pacific Coal may initiate an appeal against the decision of the IPC in the NSW Land and Environment Court.
"A decision about the next steps in that regard remains under consideration by the board. The period for lodgement of an appeal expires on November 8."
The IPC refused the five-year extension of the mine outside Muswellbrook because of impacts on air quality, noise, subsidence, groundwater and greenhouse gas emissions which "have not been fully considered in this application".
The commission found there was a "lack of rigour" in the assessment of the environmental and social costs of the project in the cost benefit analysis and "as a result the commission is not satisfied that these have been adequately assessed and quantified".
The commission found the company did not adequately consider the air quality impact of the mine "in the context of changes in background air quality since the original approval was granted".
The Dartbrook mine was famously brought out of mothballs by Nathan Tinkler at Christmas, 2015.
