Dartbrook underground owners seek approval to reopen Muswellbrook area mine

But leading environmental group Shut The Gate says a lot has changed in the Hunter Valley since Dartbrook underground was approved in 2001, and the company should be forced to go through the approvals process from scratch.

Australian Pacific Coal says the reopened mine would employ 99 mineworkers, with 26 jobs created during the early construction process.

In documents lodged with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment, the company is seeking approval to run a bord-and-pillar operation in one seam – the Kyuga seam – and to extend the life of the mine by five years to December 2027.

In a statement to the stock exchange on Thursday, the company said it expected to lodge its environmental assessment in May.

It was hoping for approval in the third quarter of the year, with mining to start six months after approval. Its “first workings” mining would leave stable pillars and mean negligible surface subsidence. The mining footprint would not increase, and the coal would not need washing.

Dartbrook’s existing approval allows it to produce six million tonnes a year of “run-of-mine” coal.

 The bord-and-pillar plan was first mooted publicly in early 2016, and the company had also spoken about wanting to start an open-cut mine on the lease.

Tinkler focusing on Dartbrook

Dartbrook heads underground

Dartbrook was closed in 2006 and its then-owner, Anglo American, sold it to Australian Pacific Coal in a deal that was finalised in May last year. 

Although controversial businessman Nathan Tinkler is no longer an office holder in the company, Tinkler family members are still listed as major shareholders. 

The company completed a share consolidation in December, meaning that 100 of its old shares converted to one new share.

This had the effect of lifting the company’s share price 100-fold, and Australian Pacific Coal shares were trading on Thursday at $1.15.