Australia’s Whitehaven clears big hurdle to key coal project

Whitehaven Coal has won long-awaited state approval to develop its most valuable project, the A$651 million Maules Creek mine, and now just needs federal clearance, Australia’s largest independent coal miner said on Thursday.

Whitehaven aims to start operations at the mine in mid-2013, ramping up to produce more than 10 million tonnes a year of mostly high quality semi-soft coking coal, used to make steel, from fiscal 2016.

via Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1069242/australias-whitehaven-clears-big-hurdle-key-coal-project