THE thoroughbred industry and the coal lobby are again in the trenches, this time over Malabar Coal’s plan to revive the rejected Drayton South mine as an underground project.
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Malabar Coal wants the state government to issue it a new exploration licence over the controversial Drayton South site, saying its underground plans are able to co-exist with the two horse studs, Godolphin and Coolmore.
Malabar took out advertisements last week in Upper Hunter media promoting the project, and a group of business and industry signatories have released a letter written to the Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, urging the government to issue the licence.
Malabar does not want a section of the exploration area south of the Golden Highway – on the studs’ side of the road – and says the government can mark the licence for underground mining only, insisting it has no plans for an open-cut.
But the Thoroughbred Breeders Association is adamant that the licence should not be re-issued in any form, saying that repeated Planning Assessment Commissions have ruled against mining Drayton South, concluding that mining and the equine industry were “incompatible land uses in close proximity”.
Malabar Coal is a small company that delisted last last year from the stock exchange, but it is backed by wealthy and experienced businessmen, including New York-based Hans Mende, whose company American Metals and Coal International – known as AMCI – has made a fortune in the Australian coal industry.
Malabar hit the headlines in May when it bought the assets of the shuttered Drayton mine from its former operator Anglo American. The sale conditions were described at the time as confidential but it has since emerged that one of the conditions was the issuing of a new exploration licence, meaning the sale might not go ahead if the licence is not forthcoming.
Malabar also owns the nearby Spring Hill underground coking coal project, with plans to use the Drayton mine’s coal washery and surface instructure should Spring Hill go ahead.
Malabar’s chairman Wayne Seabrook said on Monday that underground mining put an end to “dust and noise impacts, any impacts on equine health, and any reputational issues for nearby properties”.
“The fact is, neighbouring horse studs won’t be able to see or hear us.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Planning and Environment said on Monday that no decision had been made on a request to renew the licence.
“The Anglo/Malabar deal has not been finalised. Any question on the current status of that deal and the potential transfer of any assets the subject of that deal is a matter for the commercial partners at this point."
