Referral summary · EPBC Act Public Portal

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<p><i><strong>Background&nbsp;</strong></i></p><p>The Ravensworth Mine Complex and Ashton Mine Complex are neighbouring open cut and underground coal mining complexes, located in the Singleton Local Government Area, in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales (NSW) (Att A ‘Referral Description’, Figure 1, Page 2).</p><p>The Ravensworth Mine Complex includes the Ravensworth Operations Project and the Ravensworth Underground Mine (RUM). The Ravensworth Operations Project includes the Ravensworth North and Ravensworth Narama pits. The RUM is owned and operated by Resource Pacific Pty Limited (RPPL). &nbsp;Glencore Coal Assets Australia Pty Limited oversees the management of RUM. The proposed Action that is the subject of this Referral applies to part of the RUM only.</p><p>Approval of the RUM (formally Nardell Underground Coal Mine) was originally granted under NSW <i>Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979</i> (EP&amp;A Act) on 20 November 1996 (Development Consent DA 104/96) and was last modified (Modification&nbsp;9) on 20 June 2013.&nbsp;</p><p>The RUM DA 104/96 includes underground longwall mining within the Lemington (B and C), Pikes Gully, Liddell (Upper and Middle) and Barrett coal seams. In October 2014, after the completion of Longwall 9 in the Pikes Gully Seam, operations at RUM were placed into care and maintenance and no further underground mining has occurred since. A total of nine longwalls (Longwalls 1 to 9) were mined out of the State approved 16 longwall panels in the Pikes Gully Seam. The RUM has an approved operational capacity of up to 7 million tonnes per annum of run-of-mine (ROM) coal until 31 July 2024.</p><p>The Ashton Mine Complex includes the Ashton Coal Project (including the completed North East Open Cut and the Ashton Underground Mine) and approved but not yet commenced Ashton South East Open Cut (SEOC) Project. The Ashton Coal Project is operated by Ashton Coal Operations Pty Limited (ACOL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Yancoal Australia Limited (Yancoal).&nbsp;</p><p>ACOL and RPPL submitted an application on 9 November 2021 to modify DA 104/96 under the NSW EP&amp;A Act to enable ACOL to access and extract approved coal resources at the RUM until approximately December 2032. The coal would be accessed from ACOL’s neighbouring Ashton Underground Mine via new non-subsiding first workings developed between the two mining areas. Development of first workings in the Pikes Gully Seam between the two mines would need to commence in August 2022 to enable continuity of ACOL’s operations. A description of the proposed modification to DA 104/96 and the integration of the RUM and Ashton Coal Project is provided in the <i>Ashton-Ravensworth Underground Mine Integration Modification – Ravensworth Underground Mine Modification Report</i> (Att F ‘RUM Modification Report’, Section 4, pages 13-15).</p><p><i><strong>Activities Included in the Action</strong></i></p><p>The <strong>proposed Action</strong> that is the subject of this Referral includes the following components and activities within the Action Area (shown as the Indicative Underground Mining Area on Figure 2 (refer Att A ‘Referral Description’, Page 4):</p><ul><li>underground mining of the Pikes Gully and Middle Liddell coal seams using longwall mining as shown on Figure 2 (refer Att A ‘Referral Description’, Page 4);</li><li>mining operations until approximately 31 December 2032 (i.e. for a period of approximately 8 years);&nbsp;</li><li>establishment and use of gas, ventilation and water management infrastructure including shafts, bores, pumps and pipelines;</li><li>management of water and gas that accumulates in the underground workings within the Action Area;</li><li>transfer of ROM coal from the RUM Pikes Gully and Middle Liddell coal seams in the Action Area to the neighbouring Ashton Coal Project via connected underground workings; and&nbsp;</li><li>transfer of water and gas from the Action Area to the neighbouring Ashton Coal Project.</li></ul><p>Infrastructure developed as part of the Action would be located in previously cleared areas or areas approved for clearing under the Controlled Action for the Ravensworth Operations Project (2010/5389).</p><p>Subsidence effects caused by the Action may have an indirect impact on threatened ecological communities or species, or their habitat. The total area within the bounds of the Action's development footprint is approximately 421 hectares, with an area subject to potential subsidence effects (disturbance) of approximately 421 hectares.</p><p>A description of the <strong>proposed Action</strong>, a summary of the EPBC Act Approvals Context and the activities not included in the Action are provided in Attachment A (Att ‘Referral Description’, pages 1-4).</p>

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