The high court backed the EPA's carbon emission cuts for large facilities, but said it has no rights over smaller polluters such as apartment buildings, schools or restaurants.
There is an estimated 104,300 metric tons of thorium and rare earth element-rich veins in the area where MMG Limited has been granted exploration rights.
Total coal exports, however, fell 13.1% in the quarter, from 17.4 million tons in the first quarter of 2013 to 15.1 million tonnes in the same period this year.
