The NSW government prosecuted Moolarben for the unlawful clearing of vegetation, including endangered native species, without planning approval.

The clearing was carried out for the erection of a boundary fence.

Moolarben pleaded guilty and last week the court imposed a fine of $70,000 with the company also required to pay the government’s court costs of $55,000.

NSW Planning Minister Tony Kelly said the judgment was an “important outcome for the integrity of the NSW planning system”

“The NSW government takes compliance with its planning approvals very seriously,” Kelly said.

“As planning minister, I was not prepared to stand idly by while a breach such as this took place, particularly as it relates to the clearing of endangered vegetation.

“The company is now required to rectify the situation by revegetating and setting aside similar vegetation in other areas for permanent protection.”

In December 2008, the company began illegally clearing 4.1 hectares of vegetation, which included approximately 1.3ha of White Box Yellow Box Blakely’s Red Gum Forest.

Under a subsequent modification to the mine’s approval, Moolarben will now be required to conserve 6.6ha. A further 10ha of already cleared land must also be revegetated with endangered vegetation.

Last year, Moolarben was anticipated to produce 6 million tonnes of thermal coal in 2010. Overburden removal started in November in conjunction with the construction of mine infrastructure.

Full ramp-up under stage one development will see Moolarben produce up to 13Mt per annum of product coal for export and domestic markets, with 8.8Mtpa from open cut mining and 4.0-4.2Mtpa from longwall mining.

Under stage two plans, Yancoal is aiming for 17Mtpa run-of-mine production, with 8Mtpa from longwall mining and the rest from four open cuts.

Yancoal is a subsidiary of Chinese coal producer Yanzhou Coal Mining, which formally completed its $3.3 billion acquisition of Felix in January.