Boggabri Coal has been fined for stockpiling material at an unauthorised location, a breach of their mining approval conditions.
The Land and Environment Court supported findings by Department of Planning and Environment inspectors, that Boggabri Coal had stockpiled about 90,000 square metres of excavated material from their open cut coal mine at a disused quarry site outside the mine’s boundary.
Boggabri representatives from mine operator Idemitsu pleaded guilty to the offense and was fined $82,500, and was also ordered to pay legal costs of $38,000.
Boggabri applied for modifications to its approvals in order to gain permission to store material at the quarry, which has now been approved.
“Environmental conditions are imposed on mines for good reasons and we won’t tolerate mining companies ignoring them,” a DP&E spokesperson said.
“The community expects us to watch mines closely and step in as soon as we see the rules being broken and that’s exactly what’s happened here.”
“The court’s decision can give people confidence in the department’s ability to make mining companies play by the rules.”
Idemitsu recently sold a 10 per cent interest in Boggabri to Japanese company Chugoku Electric Power Australia Resources.
The transaction included an agreement to supply thermal coal to Chugoku on a long term basis.
Image: NVI