New South Wales to section off part of park for mining

Andrew Topf | October 16, 2011 | 5:28 pm Energy Top Companies Australia Europe Coal

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) has convinced the New South Wales state government to carve out a piece of a proposed national park to be used for coal mining.

Sydney Morning Herald reported that “the Minister for the Environment, Robyn Parker, confirmed a finger of the proposed national park reaching to the Georges River will be left to the company for longwall mining. Another swatch of land in the centre of the park will also be mined under the compromise, but there would be no undermining of the national park.”

The park would cover almost 99% of the current Dharawal State Conservation Area, with two small areas excluded for BHP’s proposed mining operations in the Illawarra region. BHP still needs approvals for parts of its Bulli coal-seam project, but did not expect the new national park to “have an adverse impact” on its operations, reported SMH.