Modification 6 - underground mining extension

The Ulan West Mod 6 program is a significant role in supporting the local Mudgee community and the broader regional economy. Ulan West provides ongoing employment, supports local businesses, and contributes to essential services in the area. Coal remains one of Australia’s largest and most important resources, and operations like Ulan West are a key part of maintaining energy security, export strength, and economic stability. Mod 6 allows the mine to continue operating responsibly while meeting environmental and regulatory requirements, ensuring the benefits to the local community and workforce can be sustained into the future.

As local landowners and residents we strongly object to the Modification 6 Ulan Coal Mine expansion. See attachment.

See attached submission in PDF

I oppose the proposed Ulan Mine modification 6 development.

The clearing of 2,368 hectares of new land for the modification 6 mine development will irreparably damage ecosystems and regional biodiversity already under threat due to the existing Ulan mine and other industry.

The existing Ulan Mine is a physical and First Nations Cultural scar on this regional landscape. Groups and individuals such as Land Care, Wires, Mudgee Environment Group, Land Councils and local land holders, continuously take measures to mitigate and fight to restrict the impacts of land clearing, the draining of natural water resources and the threats to our vulnerable wildlife, ecosystems and cultural heritage from a history of mining and land clearing for pastoralism. Ignoring the impacts of a rapid global warming by approving coal mining expansion is a devestating legacy to leave for future generations.

The proposed new underground expansion will facilitate the development of the extensive coal reserves associated with MOD 8 and allow access to even more coal resources to the north of current operations, contributing significantly to greenhouse gases and climate change. Coal mining at UCML must cease no later than 2033 to allow for the necessary global decarbonisation to avoid a 1.5C rise in global temperatures and catastrophic climate change.
Considering the clear scientific advice on climate change and strong likelihood of future water shortages we must protect this water resource from further degradation. Science is telling us society will become increasingly dependent on groundwater – especially in Australia where we have limited surface water sources. The precautionary principle must be comprehensively and transparently applied to this project application. (See attached for full submission)

See PDF attached - this submission corrects the error in the date of the previous document i.e. today's date. There is no other change.

Submission Regarding Glencore’s Ulan Coal Mine Modification 6 (Mod 6)

I strongly object to this proposal for the following reasons:
1. Yet again the amendment report rails to identify the impact of increased greenhouse gases on local environment, community and economy.
2. The additional amount of coal mined means that there will be over a 45% increase in total emissions above currently approved for Ulan Mine.
3. The cumulative loss of threatened habitat, water from the landscape and flows to waterways as well as significant Aboriginal cultural heritage sites has not been assessed.
4. The proposal is within a renewable energy zone which is where the local workforce should be employed, not in expanded mining sites.
5. The cumulative impacts of the three Mudgee mines has not been assessed.
6. Surface and ground water sources within the Murray Darling Basin is already stressed. This proposal will only further impact water supplies for the environment.

I am objecting to this proposal on the following basis:-
Negative environmental and cultural impacts
The project has the potential to negatively impact 55 ha of native vegetation communities, 9.5 ha of box gum woodland (a critically endangered ecological community), the habitat of the large-eared pied bat (a vulnerable species) and a number of other species such as the Eastern Cave Bat, the Powerful Owl, the Barking Owl and the Southern Myotis
It also increases the probability of perceptible impacts for 48 Aboriginal sites or potential archaeological deposits (Pads).

Employment justification
There is no need for extended coal mining in the region to provide local jobs. Mining is competing for skilled labour urgently required in the construction, housing and renewable energy industries.
There is a major labour shortage in the Central West with local workers needed for the CWO REZ construction, a major sustainable energy project.
Additionally, the NSW Government has prioritised the Central West Future Jobs and Investment Authority to manage the transition away from coal mining. The Mudgee region has many opportunities to diversify the economy.

I am writing to object to the Modification 6 - underground mining extension. This project should be assessed together with the Ulan Mod 8 proposal as a new project to provide a comprehension assessment of impact of the environment. The proposal will produce an additional 18.8 million tonnes of coal and when combined with Mod 8 (additional 43 MT) there will be over a 45% increase in total emissions above current approved operations at Ulan Mine. There is also no assessment of cumulative impacts from existing mine approvals or expansion proposals across the three Mudgee Mines: Ulan, Moolarben, Wilpinjong
The cumulative loss of threatened species habitat, significant Aboriginal cultural heritage values, water from the landscape and flows to creeks and rivers, and threats to amenity and livelihoods of neighbours has not been assessed and will place further pressure on already stressed surface and ground water sources within the Murray Darling Basin. The amendment report still fails to fully identify the impacts of the increased greenhouse gas emissions on the local environment, community and economy, as
required under NSW planning law.

I am a resident of the Mudgee Region.
I believe that Ulan Mod 6 and Ulan Mod 8 should be assessed together and the cumulative impact of Mod 8 included in the assessments of Mod 6. Both these modifications to the Ulan Mine, whether they are in fact Modifications or New Mines should be subject to rigorous and comprehensive full assessment of the cumulative impacts to the Environment.

This proposal is foundationally flawed in the short-sighted timeframe of this project, the lack of clarity and a consolidated cumulative evaluation in respect to future operations for modification 8 reflects the utter disrespect and depravity fossil fuel companies have sunk to in planning for the future of our planet. This proposal for a modification 6 for Glencore’s Ulan Mine is no different. Our community, our country and shared planet is breaking beyond planetary tipping points. Moments in our planet’s life where our direct action or inaction each and every day, is shaping the planet to be a more dangerous and inhospitable place to all life on our shared planet.

This extension is of course only a fraction of total global greenhouse gas emissions, yet allowing any small fraction of these projects to go ahead is still unequivocally damaging for our future chances. Today we are already seeing the societal, political and economic impacts of climate change spread across the world. Not just from the injustice that is caused by increased climate migration, growing wealth inequality and global security defragmentation. It is a result of an unsustainable business models alongside an economic system that is contributing towards climate disruption and ecological destruction that impacts communities accessibility to our many basic needs for survival from clean water, arable land, electricity, shelter, warmth and cooling. Our planets climate continues to change rapidly, seen through increased drought lengths, rising inland and sea flood levels, shaped by more severe and unpredictable weather systems which will only become more frequent and displace more people across the planet, eliminating communities, cultures and history.

This may take time to be felt in the face of people who disregard the idea today simply by their lack of exposure and experience to it. But a passage of time will occur and they will feel the brunt of it and maybe seek to put it in a different context, as though an illusion is cast over them to put blame on some other unknown illogical force. So is the case today with the forced migration led by the US, its subordinate western allies and corporate behemoths profiting and growing in uncontainable scale through the death, disruption and destruction of various cultures and communities across our planet in their pursuit of energy resources. Rampant racism and subjugation of billions of people, millions killed and civil liberties destroyed, all through the insidious rule of the American empire over the last 80 years in its pursuit of energy dominance and resource security. The world of the future has absolutely no need for the continued consumption of fossil fuels, the approval of this project or any other reflects our continued support for the status-quo of a destructive and evil colonial empire. This form of thinking is founded by corporations that hold no account for their actions today, like the actions of colonial western corporations in the East India Company and Dutch East Indies Company and the European corporate scramble for Africa. Contemporary corporations continue to profit from the subjugation of the public, pillaging of resources from states and the erosion of our democratic process through their continued support for self-inflicted ecological destruction, blatant genocidal campaigns, and allowing the division and disillusioned algorithmic echo-chambers of our online communities to be moulded by emotional content, mis/disinformation and ulterior profit motives. Fossil fuel companies such as those involved in this proposal benefit from the loss of civil discourse in our communities and this lack of communication and true understanding between parties and allowing for a true reflection on the consequences of past, present and future actions are terribly concerning.
The blatant propaganda and misinformation campaign that is raged today by fossil fuel companies is unguided without science, devoid of factuality and unswayed by empathy.

This disconnect from the actions of this expansion are a primitive example of this.
We in corporate and political Australia are a western, resource rich nation which has subjugated and pillaged much of the indigenous population in a rapid and experienced genocide. With modern indigenous communities subject to be on the end of the worst and initial impacts of climate change. Living of the land, giving back to the land, whilst the land they have known for 65,000 years is stripped away from them once again, with irreversible consequences. Modern capitalist practices have destroyed our connection with nature. The unnecessary rise of middle-distributors and services sectors driven by our consumeristic behaviours removes any connection to our required consumption of basic needs. We do not witness the true cost to our planet for the provision food we must eat, the clothes we wear and the roof that is over our head. These production and supply chains have been strung out via a complex web where everyone competes for a slice of the pie, all whilst the resources that we use for the pie are running out and we do nothing to change our behaviours when we have the right and the ability to change.

The fossil fuel industry is broken, like many of those sectors or institutions on the planet which gain profit or control through immoral and unethical ways. The individuals and groups that play along with this are corroding away on the inside as they take power, wealth and control in their own way, yet only for a short period of time, as the consequence to their pursuit is the annihilation of our modern age. An expansion of a facility that continues to pay extortionately high wages to its employees, allowing them to continue their consumeristic, ignorant and shielded livelihoods, perhaps sub-consciously accepting the pleasure of short-term rewards over long-term hardship. The greenwashing of private businesses and community organisations, through sponsorships, establishment patronage and unproven neoliberal trickle-down economic theory restricts the objectivity of information that is presented in the public domain. Political parties and individuals are propped up through handshake agreements, exclusive access and undemocratic lobbying donations, legal loopholes or blatant ignorance in the interest of selfish gains and opportunities.

The cumulative impacts of this project and that of modification 8 must be considered. Stripping away the scale of the fossil fuel industry and the harmful and irreversible impacts of continue greenhouse gas emissions on our planet, not providing a full assessment and clarity on the future intentions of this proposal speaks to the dishonest and illusive practices of an industry that has no plan for the future, no plan for our communities, no plan for the ecological world and how we humans rely upon a sustainable planet to survive.

The science on greenhouse gas emissions has been clear for decades. The message has been told to the community for decades that a time will come and the mines will have to close. At what point do we draw the line? Who decides when that line is drawn and if we allow the corporation to draw the line, how rich must their coffers be, what illogical and degrading labour practices must they squeeze out of the people to keep the profit wheel turning when the reserves run dry? What happens when the coal runs out, the demand continues to fall away and no one is left to consume it?

The Ulan Coal mines have been a part of my life since driving to the coast for holidays as a child. The way it and other mines have progressed over time have become a strain on the beauty of our country, let alone the unseen costs. My father’s family has lived off the land in the Mudgee region for 6 generations, providing merino wool resources to the local community and abroad. My mother’s family also a farming family in Gulgong. These are the voices that are impact by these projects. Priced out of the town due to increased labour costs through local competition with mining wages and individuals with a higher marginal propensity to consume. Slowly being forced out of their farming practice with unfavourable, unprofitable and unstoppable weather and climate conditions that will impact our region and every other primary producing family, business, corporation or government across the planet.

What we do now and what can be done today is to reject all fossil fuel projects and continue to build a more sustainable and inter-generational future for our planet with renewable resources and circular economy principles. I can see how generational care for land is critical, to pass on a land that is rich and abundant to the next generation should be what we all strive to do, Australia’s diverse indigenous communities and others across the planet have done this for tens of thousands of years, my family only a drop in the ocean.
I believe that we must care about our actions today and how they will impact us in this future. This proposal brings no benefit to our planet.

Regards,
Jacob Rohr
Piambong, NSW

I have firsthand experience of the area proposed for coal mine expansion in the Mudgee region.

For more than 40 years I have camped three or four times a year at Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve on the Wollar Road. This is a significant bird study site that has been operating for more than 60 years and so forms a very valuable and almost unrivalled longitudinal study of bird populations. Threatened species, including Regent Honeyeaters and Koalas, have been recorded there in recent years and the Nature Reserve supports permanent breeding populations of iconic species including Emus and Superb Lyrebirds.

Munghorn Gap has a permanent water source and serves as a very important refuge for wildlife in times of drought, in all of my very numerous visits to MG I have not ever seen the water source dry up notwithstanding some very significant drought conditions. It is almost certain that the rich wildlife present in the reserve in very dependent on a reliable water supply. Consequently, a reliable water supply is absolutely critical for the future of the wildlife on MG.
In recent years we have noticed that the water level in the spring has got lower which happens to coincide with the expansions of all the mines in this area.

Munghorn Gap NR is almost surrounded already by mining leases and I am deeply concerned that existing mines, and certainly any expansions, will impact the permanent water supply which is so critical for wildlife there.

I have also visited The Drip, which is another important wildlife site as well as a very popular tourist destination. There and at Munghorn Gap, Rock Warblers (Origmas) are present. This is the only bird species endemic to NSW and it is confined to sandstone formations and nearby limestone formations on and around the Great Dividing Range, mainly within a 240 km radius of Sydney.

Protection of our state’s precious groundwater resources cannot be jeopardised by the expansion of coal mines; this threat was recently highlighted by the agreement by Australian mining company South32 to pay a record sum after an investigation revealed one of its coal mines drained millions of litres of water from the Sydney water catchment without a license.

The continued extraction and use of fossils fuels such as coal, are contributing to climate change which is accelerating at an ever-increasing rate – illustrated by the record-breaking world temperatures recently reported.

The extension to the coal lease is required for employment and growth to the Mudgee region to continue.

I oppose the proposal and have outlined some of my concerns in the attached document

The project which extends the life of Ulan West Operations which is a significant business in the local area and Supports the local community with jobs of direct employees and the supporting business. As a local this is very important to me for the town I live in with Young Children.

This coal mine extension must not be approved because:
• It will add additional greenhouse gas emissions which will, when added to emissions from Ulan Mod 8, greatly affect Australia’s ability to achieve net zero in time to avoid the extremes of climate change.
• Impact unacceptably on threatened species habitat, aboriginal cultural heritage sites and neighbours.
• Impact unacceptably on groundwater and creeks, thereby further degrading the Murray Darling System.
• Compete for government investment and workers with renewable energy projects.
• Further impact on neighbours and local residents who have to live with this coal mine and its destruction year after year sometimes for decades, creating a non-sustainable “boom or bust” economy.

See Attachment

Please acknowledge receipt of submission

The revised proposal does not address the objections that:
- Extension of coal mine operations until 2035 is incompatible with the need to reduce carbon emissions urgently.
- The net benefit to NSW has been grossly overstated.
- The total resulting greenhouse gases from the project would significantly harm the Australian environment, including the Great Barrier Reef.
The revised proposal makes:
- Incorrect claim that
“The Proposed Modification will not materially increase the national or State effort required to reach Australia’s and NSW’s 2030 greenhouse gas reduction targets.”
- Unsubstantiated claims that
“the demand for this product would be met through coal mined elsewhere in the world”
and
“this NSW production [would be] substituted by lower quality coal produced elsewhere.”
- Anachronistic appeals to NSW Government documents.

See attached file for details.