GVK Hancock, which is in the process of developing coal mines in Australia, today said it welcomes the Australian Supreme Court's judgement rejecting appeals from anti-mining activists to environmental approvals for its Alpha Coal Project.
The Supreme Court, in its ruling, has rejected an appeal to the previous decision of the Land Court, as well as an appeal to the granting of the Environmental Authority for GVK Hancock's proposed Alpha coal mine, GVK Group said in a statement.
"This judgement combines the second and third court ruling in favour of our comprehensive suite of environmental assessments for the Alpha Coal Project. This legal challenge did not involve landholders in the region, it was only brought forward by anti-mining activists.
"We are pleased the court has clearly ruled that our project has continued to follow and comply with all regulatory and legal processes," it said.
The development of the Alpha Coal Project will create 5,000 jobs during around three years of construction and over 2,000 long-term jobs during the 30+ years of operations, it added.
"To date, we have invested tens of millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours (in) assessing, planning and engaging with communities to reach the point of achieving approvals, which included around 300 collaborative scientific studies, involving over 500 specialist consultants," the company said.
The next steps involve continuing to work with government to meet specific requirements that will allow for the grant of the mining lease for the Alpha Coal Project, it added.
Once approvals are finalised, GVK Hancock will execute coal offtake agreements with customers and finalise all financing arrangements in preparation for the commencement of construction, the statement said.
