Stage 3 Project

In September 2009, Austar was granted approval by the NSW Minister for Planning to extend longwall mining to an area east of existing operations as part of the Stage 3 Expansion Project. Key features of Stage 3 are summarised as follows:

Longwall production from the Greta coal seam from panels A6 to A17 using Longwall Top Coal Caving (LTCC) technology. This technology allows mining of seams up to 7 metres thick. Within the Stage 3 extraction area the coal seam ranges in depth from 450 metres to 740 metres below the ground surface.
Construction of a new surface infrastructure site south west of Kitchener. The surface infrastructure site will include ventilation shafts and fans, winders, bath house facilities, a workshop, electricity substation, store and offices. The surface infrastructure site will be accessed via a new road and intersection at Quorrobolong Road.
Coal will continue to be brought to the surface at Austar's existing surface facilities at Paxton. These facilities will continue to be used to take large mining equipment into and out of the mine.
Continued use of Austar's existing water management, coal transport systems, coal preparation plant and rejects emplacement areas.

In accordance with Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, an Environmental Assessment (EA) was prepared for the project. Austar engaged Umwelt (Australia) Pty Ltd (Umwelt) to prepare the EA.

A Preliminary EA was prepared in June 2007 and a Planning Focus Meeting held in September 2007. This was the formal commencement of the preparation of the Part 3A Environmental Assessment. The Department of Planning (DoP) issued Director General's Requirements (DGR’s) which detailed issues that needed to be addressed in the EA.

The EA includes assessments of the following impacts – subsidence, ecology, cultural and historic heritage, water management (surface and groundwater), noise, air quality, visual amenity and traffic. Details of each of these environmental studies are included in the Environmental Assessment.

Should you have any comments on the Stage 3 Project or any part of the Stage 3 Environmental Assessment process or would like to meet with someone to discuss the project further, we encourage you to call us on 4993 7200 or email info@austarcoalmine.com.au

To download a copy of the Stage 3 Environmental Assessment please click here.