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Hume Coal Mine is a cancelled coal mine in Berrima, New South Wales, Australia.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Mine Name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Hume Coal Mine | Berrima, New South Wales, Australia | -34.54081, 150.284465 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:
Project Details
Table 2: Project status
| Status | Status Detail | Opening Year | Closing Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancelled | – | 2023 | – |
Table 3: Operation details
| Capacity (Mtpa) | Production (Mtpa) | Year of Production | Mine Type | Mining Method | Mine Size (km2) | Mine Depth (m) | Workforce Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | – | – | Underground | – | 5 | 180 | 300 |
Table 4: Coal resources and destination
| Total Reserves (Mt) | Year of Total Reserves Recorded | Total Resources (Mt) | Coalfield | Coal Type | Coal Grade | Primary Consumer/ Destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | – | 115 | Southern | Bituminous | Thermal & Met | – |
Table 5: Ownership and parent company
| Owner | Parent Company | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|
| POSCO Holdings Inc | POSCO | South Korea |
Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the GEM April 2024 Global Coal Mine Tracker dataset.
Background
The Hume coal project was an underground coking coal mine project, pursued by Hume Coal (a subsidiary of POSCO Australia). It would have been located close to the villages of Berrima and Medway in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia.[1]
On August 31, 2021, the New South Wales Independent Planning Commission (IPC) blocked plans by Hume Coal to develop the proposed A$533 million (US$390 million) Hume Coal and Berrima Rail project. The IPC ruled that the underground coal mine was “not in the public interest” due to the “potential for long-term and irreversible impacts” on the social and environmental values of the region.[2] After more than a decade of trying to gain approval for the mine, POSCO admitted defeat and put the land associated with the coal project up for sale that same year. As such, the project is cancelled. It is expected that a decision on the Hume Coal project will be made by mid-2020. As of November 2019 the Government awaits a response from Hume Coal to the queries raised by the Independent Planning Commission. The timing of Hume Coal's response is not fixed.[3]
The NSW Department of Planning and Environment received almost 13,000 submissions to the mine application process, the vast majority of which objected to the mine on environmental grounds.
A NSW Government department has raised grave fears about the plans for this mine, predicting groundwater impacts that are unparalleled in the state. "The department considers there is currently considerable scientific uncertainty about the level of environmental damage to both groundwater and surface water resources," the statement read.[4]
The proposed mine would have operated for 23 years.[5]
- Operator: Hume Coal[1]
- Owner: POSCO[1]
- Location: Close to the villages of Berrima and Medway, Southern Highlands of New South Wales[1]
- GPS Coordinates: -34.540811, 150.284465 (exact)[6]
- Status: Cancelled[7]
- Production Capacity: 3.5 mtpa[8]
- Total Resource:
- Mineable Reserves: 50 million tonnes[9]
- Coal Type: Coking coal[1]
- Mine Size: 5,051 hectares[10]
- Mine Type: Underground, first-workings method[1]
- Start Year:
- Source of Financing:
Opposition
Battle for Berrima is a community group opposed to the mine. On its website it says, "We are a community united against the irreversible impacts of large scale coal mining and exploration, as we demonstrate in peaceful and democratic means."[11]
According to the Guardian newspaper in 2017, "The community is almost wholly opposed to the mine, according to surveys of locals who fear contamination of the region’s pristine aquifers, noise from increased train and truck movements, particle pollution from the coal stockpiles, and the impact on towns such as historic Berrima, one of Australia’s best-preserved examples of a Georgian village.
The chief concern, however, is the loss of bore water for the region’s farmers and landholders.
The coal is to be extracted from shallow deposits, which will cause groundwater to fill the voids and cause the drawdown of a significant number of bores. Locals were told on Wednesday [26 April 2017] it could take as long as 73 years for the full recovery of the groundwater.
The company’s environmental impact statement, released last month [March 2017], revealed the mine would cause 93 groundwater bores in the region to drop by anywhere between two and 80 metres.
Seventy-one landholders will be affected."[12]
Articles and Resources
Additional data
To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Hume Coal, "Project Overview", Hume Coal website, accessed 4 December 2019.
- ↑ New South Wales Independent Planning Commission (IPC), HUME COAL IMPACTS ‘TOO GREAT TO BE REASONABLY MANAGED’, IPC FINDS, Press Release, August 31, 2021
- ↑ Battle for Berrima, "Meeting with the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces", Battle for Berrima website, 19 November 2019.
- ↑ Gavin Cotte and Nick Mclaren, "Hume Coal mine gets damning assessment from NSW Government department over groundwater fears", ABC News, 12 December 2018.
- ↑ Hume Coal, "Public Exhibition for Hume Coal Project to Begin Friday (31 March)", Hume Coal website, 10 April 2017.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedmap - ↑ Jo Clarke, "Posco sells out of Australian coal project", Argus Media, 27 September 2021.
- ↑ New South Wales Government, "Hume Coal Project and Berrima Rail Project", page iii, State of NSW through its Department of Planning and Environment, December 2018.
- ↑ New South Wales Government, "Hume Coal Project and Berrima Rail Project", page 7, State of NSW through its Department of Planning and Environment, December 2018.
- ↑ New South Wales Government, "Hume Coal Project and Berrima Rail Project", page 8, State of NSW through its Department of Planning and Environment, December 2018.
- ↑ Battle for Berrima, "Meeting our community", Battle for Berrima website, accessed 4 December 2019.
- ↑ Christopher Knaus, "Hume Coal mine would threaten water and net just $6m in royalties a year for NSW", Guardian, 27 April 2017.
