NSW Independent Planning Commission approves extension of Mount Pleasant coal mine

The New South Wales Independent Planning Commission has approved the Mount Pleasant Optimisation Project, which will allow a Hunter Valley coal mine to extend its life to 2048. Key points: MACH Energy applied to extend the mine to 2048 and increase its output by several hundred tonnes The IPC says the approval comes with conditions to monitor environmental and heritage impacts The commissioners say job creation is one of the key reasons approval is being granted MACH Energy, the owner of the Mount Pleasant site, applied to extend the site's life and expand the open-cut pit to extract an additional 444 million tonnes of coal. "Air quality and noise impacts of the project are capable of being minimised, managed or at least compensated,' commissioners Alice Clark, Chris Fell AO and Terry Bailey said in their statement of reasons for approval. "The project would result in approximately $140 million in incremental disposable income in the Muswellbrook and Upper Hunter LGAs, $189m in the wider Hunter Valley, $276m in NSW and $1.4 billion in incremental direct value added benefits," they said.