HVO North Open Cut Coal Continuation Project

HVO provides support to many local families and the community as well as the larger economy.

As a local resident in the mining community and an employee of HVO, I support the project. HVO plays an important role in our community, employing 1500 people locally- mothers, fathers, daughters and sons. This does not include the massive number of contractors and vendors that supply HVO from parts and labor to hospitality. I am proud to work for HVO, a business that puts back into the community and supports their people. Without mining, what would our Hunter Valley be?

I support this project.

I work here and support my family and community

My husband works and supports our family and community

I support the project to extend HVO North’s contract

I believe the mine should be granted the continuation as it is vital for the community and the employees

HVO continuation allows people who are new to the industry to experience more and gives more opportunity/time for up-skilling. And keeps everyone in a job!

Very important for jobs that support the local community and small business

I support this project

The project will create employment opportunities, strengthen regional economies, and provide lasting positive impacts for families and small communities in the surrounding area.

Coal is an important export of Australia, coal provides a significant portion of the nation's electricity, is a crucial raw material for steel and cement production, and is a major export commodity, generating substantial national income and employment across the economy. Shutting down this plant will cost one of Australia’s most important exports and hundred of jobs.

This project contributes so much to local jobs and supports community businesses and services. Taxes and royalties provide essential support for hospitals, schools and police services. Coal production is absolutely essential for the well being of the Australian economy..it’s a no brainer!

I support this project
Job security and the local towns need the workers.

My father worked at Hunter Valley Operations and supported our family, I worked at HVO also, for 16 years, before I had my children. My husband is at HVO now, he was an operator, left and studied, and is now back in a higher role. HVO runs in Singletons blood. We need the extension to keep our town alive. It is a family pit, as I said above, and we would love our sons to look at getting an apprenticeship in the workshop or becoming a trainee operator. Mining has given me and my family a head start in life, our sons understand the meaning of hard work, and seeing their father only ever do shift work, understand the importance and sacrifices we make for our families. We shop local, support our small town businesses, spending the money earnt from HVO in our town.
Our town would be a ghost town without mining, all the contractor companies that do work for the mines. Singleton and surrounding towns NEED mining. Please extend the contract, for the town, the families, the businesses and everyone/thing that deals with mining.

The project should continue due to the amount of money it injects into the economy locally and nationally, coal is also still needed around the world until we have sufficient renewable infrastructure and resources.

Climate change costs not adequately considered with a legal precedent ignored

The recent decision by the NSW Court of Appeal on the Mt Pleasant coal mine expansion found that the full contribution of downstream emissions (Scope 3) to climate change from a coal mine must be assessed, even if the fuel is burnt overseas. This is very important as Australia needs to consider the emissions that are being expended when our raw materials are exported and utilisied overseas. It is still our responsibility to reduce emissions, from start to finish of our projects.
The Court of Appeal found that the full environmental, social and economic impacts of climate change on a locality must be considered in making a decision on a project. This should include costs like rising insurance premiums and increasing costs of repairing roads and infrastructure after extreme weather.
But the Hunter Valley Operations revised assessment specifically EXCLUDES consideration of downstream emissions in its economic assessment, and as a result it drastically underestimates the negative economic impacts of the project.
The revised assessment should be withdrawn and the full assessment required by the Court of Appeal must be undertaken for the project, and it should then be placed back on public exhibition.

Scale of project, greenhouse gas emissions and climate targets
This is the biggest coal mine project ever considered in NSW. In total it is proposed to mine 429 million tonnes of coal and extend the operation of this huge mining complex to 2045.
Overall, this coal mine expansion would add 803 million tonnes of lifecycle greenhouse gas pollution to the atmosphere between now and 2045. That equates to 7 times the total annual emissions from all sources in New South Wales. How are we going to reach our emissions reductions target over this lifecycle?
Even the direct emissions from the project, caused by releasing methane from the coal seam and from diesel used in operating the mine, will make a huge contribution to NSW emissions and make it even more difficult for NSW to meet climate targets.
The NSW Large Emitters Guide states that coal mines should be on the same emissions reduction trajectory as NSW, i.e. to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030 and 70% by 2035.
But this expansion does the direct opposite as it will result in massive increases in direct emissions by expanding the project. The expansion will actually double methane emissions compared to the existing mine (as at FY24) and then they will remain at elevated levels until 2042.

Impacts to land and water

The proposed mine expansion will have devastating impacts on land and water in the Hunter Valley.
The HVO mine complex straddles the Hunter River and the expansion intends to mine directly into strategic agricultural land and the River’s alluvial aquifer.
Mining for the Continuation Project will worsen groundwater draw down already affecting the Hunter River’s alluvial aquifer by half a metre.
Cumulative draw down of Wollombi Brook alluvium will be up to 2 metres and this impact will extend long after mining ceases.
Recent monitoring has identified that groundwater in the alluvium and other affected areas is exceeding water quality triggers in the HVO area. A large tailings storage dam adjacent to the river was found six years ago to be seeping into groundwater.
Instead of expanding the mine, Glencore and Yancoal should be cleaning up the huge HVO site and investing in long-term environmental remediation of it.

I am writing to express my strong support for the HVO North Open Cut Coal Continuation Project. Having worked at HVO for the past 20 years, I have witnessed first-hand the positive impact this mine has had on our community and the generations that have called the Hunter region home. For 70 years, HVO has provided stable employment opportunities, allowing families to thrive and grow in an area renowned for its quality of life.
While my perspective may seem biased due to my long association with HVO, my experiences have shown me the resilience of this operation through various economic cycles. The HVO mine has endured the tests of time, demonstrating its capacity to adapt and contribute to the local economy.
The continuation of mining within the established footprint is not only a responsible approach but a chance to complete what was initiated 70 years ago. It allows us to maximize the resources we have while minimizing our environmental impact. I wholeheartedly believe that this project will provide ongoing benefits to our community and ensure a sustainable future for HVO and its employees.

Hunter Valley Operations is a major employer in the area and the local economy needs this mine to continue. I do work their as a supervisor and am responsible for the management of one of the production crews of 95 people. I am proud of the way that we mine and the care that we have for the local environment through on aggressive management of dust control measures and mine water management.
The money we spend in the community local grants and sourcing from local suppliers keep thousands of other locals employed as well.

I am the sixth generation of a farming family from Merriwa, in the Upper Hunter. Through my lifetime, I have witnessed the vital, fertile lands of the Hunter destroyed by mining, our mighty Hunter River, reduced to a trickle, and our farming communities reduced to a diaspora. This is all before I come to the HVO proposal itself.
The costs and benefits of the HVO proposal don't stack up from a current and projected economic perspective, and certainly through the lens of carbon emissions and costs. Even with the now reduced project size, the HVO Continuation Project represents almost 40% of emissions in the NSW Government’s coal project approval pipeline. With existing coal mining projects already straining the ability of NSW to meet its legislated emissions reduction targets, if HVO is approved, it will further strain the state’s ability to meet its targets and shift the burden onto other sectors to make deeper emissions reductions. A detailed cost benefit analysis produced by ACCR (https://www.accr.org.au/research/more-cost-less-benefit-for-nsw-the-flawed-rationale-for-the-hunter-valley-coal-mine-expansion/) provides reliable evidence that the financial benefit does not justify the cost.

I note the analysis of Geoscience Australia on the impact of the proposal on already scarce ground and surface. This is at the expense of the food that we all rely upon for survival. Where is the benefit in further diminishing our capacity to feed the nation? I further note the impact on threatened species and habitats, specifically, those listed in the Protected Matters Search Tool report (PMST), dated 20 November 2023, which identified 66 listed threatened species and communities that are likely or known to occur within 10 km of the proposed action. Based on the location of the proposed action, the likely habitat present in the area of the proposed action, and the nature of the proposed action, that impacts arose in relation to the following Part 3 protected matters :
(i) Central Hunter Valley Eucalypt Forest and Woodland (CHVEFW) – Critically endangered – listed ecological community,
(ii) Warkworth Sands Woodland of the Hunter Valley – Critically endangered – listed ecological community, and
(iii) Striped Legless Lizard (Delma impar) – Vulnerable – listed threatened species.
In my view, the mitigation and management proposals do not meaningfully address the threat to these habitats and species, amongst others.
Whilst lifecycle emissions are not a component of the project assessment, it is the giant elephant in the room. How can these projects be considered when the impacts are so catastrophic? Project documents show the intended additional coal mined is 429 million tonnes, producing over 15 million tonnes of Scope 1 and 2 emissions and more than 793 million tonnes of Scope 3 CO2e emissions, which is equivalent to almost seven times NSW’s total annual emissions from all sources. This is insanity. Insurance premiums are becoming impossible to afford, reconstruction costs after the ever more intense and frequent floods and fires are skyrocketing, and many smaller farmers like my family's are simply giving up. The multinationals may make a fortune while the state starves - you can't eat coal. We need to protect our precious nature and the farming land and waters needed to produce food for the nation.