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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
Business
Matthew Kelly

Highway realignment needed for mine expansion

The New England Highway realignment will commence at the intersection of McInerney Road, Camberwell.

A four kilometer section of the New England Highway north of Singleton would be realigned as part of a proposal to extend the life of Rix's Creek North coal mine by 14 years.

Bloomfield Group is finalising a scoping report for the project, which if approved, would see the mine operate until 2049.

The realigned section of highway would commence south of the intersection of McInerney road at Camberwell.

The final cost and timing of the project, to be funded by Bloomfield, will be determined by future environmental and engineering assessments.

"The project would include a significant upgrade to the New England Highway. We would keep the existinghighway open while we build a new alignment so there will be minimal disruption to traffic. We estimate this part of the project would also generate 60 jobs during construction," Bloomfield chief executive Brett Lewis said.

The proposed continuation project includes progressing mining operations to the north and west of the existing Falbrook Mining Area out to Middle Falbrook and Stony Creek Roads. This would maintain the overall peak raw coal extraction rate of six million tonnes per annum.

The mine would also operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as operations move away from neighbouring residences.

Mr Lewis said the continuation project would provide certainty for local jobs and significant economic benefit to the region.

"Extending the life of the Rix's Creek North operation will provide stability for local workers, many of whom have been working with us for their whole careers. We want to continue to be an employer of choice for our local community and continuing operations at Rix's Creek North will help us do that."

"This will also mean continued support for the local businesses who are part of our supply chain along with the community organisations we support via The Bloomfield Group Foundation."

"Beyond our local community, NSW State royalties from another 63.5 million Run of Mine tonnes of coal will be paid into the NSW economy along with payments via other state and federal taxes."

The scoping report includes early specialist planning covering environmental, social and economic areas.

The NSW Department of Planning and Environment will issue Secretary's Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs) for the project to identify the type and detail of technical and environmental assessments, and the level of consultation required to be undertaken.

To see more stories and read today's paper download the Newcastle Herald news app here.

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