PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Industry and Science Minister Ian Macfarlane on Wednesday officially opened the Maules Creek coal mine, in New South Wales.

ASX-listed Whitehaven’s A$767-million opencut coal mine started production in August 2014, and was expected to deliver some 13-million tonnes of coal a year.

The mine, which began railing coal in December 2014 and had been operating commercially since July, would create nearly 500 new local jobs, inject an additional A$68-million in wages into the local economy each year and deliver A$13-million in local infrastructure investment as part of Whitehaven’s voluntary planning agreements with local councils.

“Today marks an important milestone in Whitehaven Coal’s growth and transition as a company and is a testament to the performance of our people who have worked tirelessly to deliver this project ahead of time and under budget,” said Whitehaven CEO Paul Flynn.

“Over the past three years alone, Whitehaven has spent nearly half a billion dollars locally and it’s the local community that will continue to reap the benefit of projects such as Maules Creek for decades to come.”

Macfarlane pointed out on Wednesday that coal was one of the largest export earners for Australia and would continue to be an important part of the national energy mix for years to come, both domestically and throughout the Asian region.

“Current market conditions are by no means perfect for the global coal industry, with oversupply resulting in depressed coal prices; however, Australia must not lose sight of the ongoing growth in energy demand, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region,” the Minister said.

Flynn also remained positive about the long-term outlook for coal and particularly the high-quality coal being demanded by countries that understood the crucial role it has to play in helping achieve a lower emissions future.

“The outlook for coal, particularly the type of high-quality, low-ash and low-sulphur coal we are producing at Maules Creek, is very positive. Total New South Wales coal export volumes have increased by 3.6% over the last financial year, with Japan and Korea – Whitehaven’s key markets – continuing to be the biggest markets for New South Wales coal.

“Maules Creek mine will play a key role in powering the energy needs of North Asia and contribute to compliance with tighter global emissions standards,” Flynn said.