Minister for Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek said the Central Queensland Coal project could have unacceptable impacts on the world heritage site.
e miner said it has the second largest nickel sulphide resource base globally, based on its land holding in the Agnew-Wiluna belt in Western Australia.
The Mt Weld mine has deposits of rare earths elements neodymium and praseodymium, which are in high demand for making magnets used in electric vehicles and wind energy generation.