Background of the Existing Operations
Underground mining and other associated development to produce metallurgical coal (also known as coking coal) are currently carried out at the Metropolitan Colliery (Metropolitan Coal Mine) pursuant to Project Approval (08_0149) (Metropolitan Coal Project), which was granted under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) (New South Wales [NSW]) on 22 June 2009 (and has been subsequently modified on various occasions). The Metropolitan Coal Project was referred under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) in October 2008. The Assistant Secretary of the then Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) determined the Metropolitan Coal Project to be ‘Not a Controlled Action’ on 4 February 2009 (EPBC 2008/4519). The Metropolitan Coal Mine is located approximately 30 kilometres (km) north of Wollongong, NSW (Att 1 – Action Figures, Figure 1), adjacent to the township of Helensburgh, NSW. The Longwall layout for the Metropolitan Coal Project (as presented in the EPBC 2008/4519 Referral) is shown on Att 1 – Action Figures, Figure 2.
The Metropolitan Coal Project proposed the construction and use of Ventilation Shaft 4, as shown on Att 1 – Action Figures, Figure 3. Ventilation Shaft 4, as proposed under EPBC 2008/4519 Referral, has not been constructed, and is no longer planned to be constructed.
Description of the Action
Metropolitan Collieries Pty Ltd (Metropolitan Coal) has identified an opportunity for the continuation of the Metropolitan Coal Mine by reconfiguring Longwall 317 and adding an additional longwall (i.e. Longwall 318).
The Proposed Action Area (which is approximately 426.1 hectares [ha]) is depicted in Att 1 – Action Figures, Figure 3. The Disturbance Footprint (i.e. direct and indirect disturbance areas) is the same as the Proposed Action Area.
Metropolitan Coal, a wholly owned subsidiary of Peabody Energy Australia Pty Ltd (Peabody), is the applicant for the Action.
Activities Included in the Action
The Action would include the following additional key activities carried out within the Proposed Action Area (Att 1 – Action Figures, Figure 3):
• extraction of coal within Longwalls 317 and 318 using longwall extraction methods (a type of underground mining); and
• establishment and use of Relocated Ventilation Shaft 4.
The Proposed Action Area comprises the area within the Longwalls 317-318 35 degree angle of draw and/or predicted 20 millimetre subsidence contour, and the disturbance associated with the relocated ventilation shaft (i.e. the direct disturbance area along with a 20 metre [m] indirect disturbance buffer) (Att 1 – Action Figures, Figure 3).
Activities not Included in the Action
The Action, the subject of this referral, explicitly does not include the following:
• non-subsiding underground roadways and development workings (also known as ‘first workings’) which would be used to access Longwalls 317 and 318;
• maintenance and use of existing infrastructure including access tracks;
• development and use of new access tracks on previously cleared land;
• use of existing and approved but yet to be constructed ventilation infrastructure;
• continued use of the existing Metropolitan Coal Mine Major Surface Facilities and existing supporting surface infrastructure in the underground mining area;
• continued operation of the existing Coal Handling and Preparation Plant (CHPP);
• train loading and train movements associated with the transport of product coal to Port Kembla Coal Terminal;
• ongoing exploration and mining activities within mining and exploration tenements authorised under the NSW Mining Act 1992, including Coal Lease (CL) 379, Consolidated Coal Lease (CCL) 703, Mining Lease (ML) 1610, ML 1702, Mining Purpose Lease (MPL) 320 and Exploration Licence (EL) 9364; and
• the components and operations of the Metropolitan Coal Project (as described in the EPBC 2008/4519 Referral), whether or not those components or operations have been constructed, and irrespective of where those components are located.
Purpose of the Action
The Action has been proposed as it is a logical continuation of the existing Metropolitan Coal Mine that can use existing infrastructure and services to continue to extract high-quality metallurgical coal (or coking coal) and continue the employment of the existing Metropolitan Coal Mine workforce. The Action would continue to supply high-quality metallurgical coal to the BlueScope Port Kembla Steelworks and to international customers.
Likely Direct and Indirect Impacts
The Action would include secondary extraction via longwall mining methods of the Bulli Seam within the underground mining area shown on Att 1 – Action Figures, Figure 3. Longwall mining involves the extraction of rectangular panels of coal defined by underground roadways constructed around each longwall. The longwall mining machine travels back and forth across the width of the coal face progressively removing coal in slices from the panel. Once each slice of coal is removed from the longwall face, the hydraulic roof supports are moved forward, allowing the roof and a section of the overlying strata to fall behind the longwall machine (referred to as forming the ‘goaf’). Longwall mining associated with the Action would result in subsidence effects on the surface above and surrounding Longwalls 317 and 318. The Action also proposes direct additional disturbance of approximately 4.3 ha as a result of vegetation clearing associated with a relocated ventilation shaft (Relocated Ventilation Shaft 4).
All direct and indirect impacts of the Proposed Modification would be assessed in the Modification Report prepared in support of the NSW EP&A Act application to modify Project Approval (08_0149).
Land Tenure
As depicted in Att 1 – Action Figures, Figure 4, the Proposed Action Area is located on WaterNSW-owned land within ML 1702, CCL 703 and EL 9364. The Proposed Action Area associated with the Action would be located within the Woronora Special Area (Att 1 – Action Figures, Figure 1).
