Bengalla is currently completing a ramp up to an annual production rate of 10.7 million run of mine tonnes, the limit of its previous Development Consent.

Bengalla general manager operations Jo-Anne Scarini said: “After expansions to our coal handling and preparation plant over a number of years, we are bringing on extra heavy equipment.

“This is creating work for around 40 more people to operate and maintain the new fleet. We are focused on providing opportunities for local people and increasing the proportion of women in the operation.”

Rio Tinto Coal subsidiary Coal & Allied acquired its interest in Bengalla in 2001 and is the manager of the Bengalla on behalf of the joint venture partners: CNA Bengalla Investments, Wesfarmers Bengalla Limited, Taipower Bengalla and Mitsui Bengalla Investments.

Wesfarmers Resources managing director Stewart Butel said the approval secured the long-term future for the mine and its workforce.

“This is very good news for the workforce of 400, their families and the local community,” Butel said.

“We have been an integral part of the Muswellbrook community since operations began 16 years ago and we look forward to continuing this into the future.

“Importantly our future operations at the mine will move further away from Muswellbrook on land already owned by Bengalla and Coal & Allied.

“We acknowledge that the approval comes with comprehensive conditions and we are committed to continuing to work closely with the community and upholding our high standards of environmental management.”

An initial notice of Bengalla's intention to apply for a new Development Consent was lodged with the New South Wales government in February 2012, seeking the director-general's environmental assessment requirements.

An application for a new Development Consent under Division 4.1 of Part 4 of the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) was lodged in December 2012.

The original environmental impact statement completed in 1993 for Bengalla said it was expected that the project extraction areas would be mined in the future and we are now seeking approval to do so.

The new Development Consent provides the potential to increase employment in the future, should a decision be made to expand production to the maximum approved limit of 15 million ROM tonnes a year.

Bengalla is an open cut mine, using a dragline truck and shovel method. Approximately 360 employees work in shifts to keep the mine operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Operations are centred in the Wittingham Coal Measures of the Hunter Coalfield, which is part of a Permian coal basin known as the Sydney basin.

In 2013 the mine produced more than 8 million tonnes of high quality thermal coal for export used for electricity generation. After being washed and prepared for sale, the coal is loaded onto trains for transportation 115km to the Port Waratah coal terminal in Newcastle where it is shipped to international customers.

“This approval secures a long-term future for our mine, which provides work for 400 employees and flow on jobs in the surrounding region,” Scarini said.

“We have always planned to continue mining at Bengalla and spoken with the community about this from the very beginning, including in our original environmental impact statement in 1993.

“Our mining operations will continue to move away from Muswellbrook, on land already owned by Bengalla and Coal & Allied.

“This approval comes with comprehensive conditions that have been determined by the Department of Planning and Environment and the Planning Assessment Commission through a rigorous assessment process.

“We are committed to operating our mine responsibly by working closely with community members and maintaining our high environmental standards.”