PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining major Rio Tinto’s coal division is looking to avoid a lengthy court process to appeal against the New South Wales Land and Environment Court’s decision to overturn a 2012 development consent for its Mount Thorley Warkworth extension project, and instead said it would lodge new planning applications.

The miner has previously warned that nearly 1 300 jobs would be lost at Mount Thorley Warkworth if the mine extension, which would see mining operations continue to 2033, to produce 18-million tonnes a year of run-of-mine coal, was not approved.

Rio Tinto MD Chris Salisbury said this week that it was "critical" for the miner to secure the new planning approvals to ensure that the mine remained viable.

“Our current planning approvals will only allow Mount Thorley Warkworth to maintain existing production and employment levels until the end of 2015.”

Production at Mount Thorley Warkworth has been reduced to around 11-million tonnes a year in 2014, owing to operational impacts from the reduced working face of the Warkworth mine during the period between the Land and Environment Court appeal being lodged in 2012, and the approval of a minor modification to Rio’s development consent in January 2014.

The miner expected that this would result in the loss of around $100-million in revenue.

Salisbury noted that two separate planning applications would be submitted for the integrated operation, one for Warkworth mine and one for Mount Thorley operations, each with an environmental-impact statement (EIS) that will be assessed concurrently.

Consultation sessions and technical studies into the benefits, impacts and potential mitigation measures would be undertaken to inform the EIS, which would then be publicly exhibited.

“We are committed to going above and beyond the existing comprehensive management measures,” Salisbury said.

The company was also introducing a number of up-front measures to support the mine, as well as the community, including an offer to provide some 1 800 ha of land towards a national park, a A$4-million commitment over five years for a regeneration programme, and a range of training and employment programmes.

“We are committed to looking at all reasonable and feasible environmental management and mitigation solutions above and beyond existing measures to secure the future of the mine and its workforce,” said Salisbury.

"We've now been working to secure a future for Mount Thorley Warkworth for more than four years and it is essential that the planning applications are progressed as a matter of urgency, through the rigorous and transparent assessment process set out under the New South Wales planning system,” he added.