The man who will determine whether the state's biggest coal mining project proceeds says its environmental impacts need to be evaluated in the same way as a renewable energy proposal.
Hunter Valley Operations, a joint venture project between Glencore and Yancoal is seeking approval to extend HVO North pit by 19 years to 2045 and HVO South pit by 12 years to 2042.
Planning documents show Gross Scope 1 emissions (direct greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere) will be the equivalent of 15.1 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide over the project's life. Scope 3 emissions (indirect greenhouse gases) will be the equivalent of 793.8 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide.
The project was formally referred to the the Independent Planning Commission NSW (IPC) for determination on Friday.
The commission will hold a public hearing into the project before handing down its determination by the end of August.
Environment groups seeking to stop the extension argue it would work against efforts to reduce emissions and challenged the spirit of the state's Climate Change (Net Zero Future) Act 2023.
A Glencore socio-economic report for the project showed the mine had 1551 direct employees and contractors in 2025.
It spent $238 million in wages, $302 million on taxes and royalties and contributed $157,200 to the community.
Between 2022 and 2025 the mine spent $6.9 billion, of which 90 per cent was spent in Australia.
Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt, whose department is assessing the proposed extension, said the government was ideologically neutral when it came to the assessment of mining projects.
"The government's view is that if a project stacks up economically and environmentally, then we support it going ahead," Senator Watt said.
"The reality is that we are increasingly seeing extensions to existing mines rather than new mines, but we don't take an ideological position on this.
"If the proponent can demonstrate that it will stack up economically and a project passes our strict environmental standards, then it will be supported, as would be the case if it was a wind farm or a housing development or anything else."
While the NSW IPC independently approves or rejects state-significant developments under NSW law, all projects must also comply with federal environmental legislation.
Senator Watt also took a shot at Rising Tide activists who recently stopped two coal ships entering Newcastle Harbour in protest against the proposed HVO extension.
"We obviously support people's right to protest, we live in a democracy, but people shouldn't be breaking the law," he said.
"I think that those who are protesting need to think really seriously about how they behave, whether they are breaching the law, and whether they are being considerate to others
"They're the sort of principles that I'd put forward in terms of any protest activity, including theirs."
As part of a series of amendments made last year, the mine project plan was reduced to avoid extraction from within gas domain one in the North pit.
There will also be a reduction in the total run-of-mine coal to be extracted by about 220 million tonnes.
The proposed annual production limit at the South pit will be reduced from 18 million tonnes a year to 13 million tonnes a year.
Critically, the proposed life extension at HVO North will be reduced by five years from 2050 to 2045. The life extension of HVO South will be reduced by three years from 2045 to 2042.
