Mt Arthur Coal
Annual Review FY24
27 September 2024
ANNUAL REVIEW FY24 | |||
Table of Contents | |||
3 | Approvals | 13 | |
4 | Operations Summary | 15 | |
4.1 | Mining Operations | 15 | |
4.2 | Other Operations | 15 | |
4.3 | Employment Details | 16 | |
4.4 | Next Reporting Period | 16 | |
5 | Actions Required from Previous Annual Review | 17 | |
6 | Environmental Performance | 18 | |
6.1 | Noise | 18 | |
6.2 | Blasting | 21 | |
6.3 | Meteorological Data | 22 | |
6.4 | Air Quality | 23 | |
6.5 | Biodiversity | 28 | |
6.6 | Visual Amenity and Lighting | 43 | |
6.7 | Aboriginal Cultural Heritage | 44 | |
6.8 | European Cultural Heritage | 45 | |
6.9 | Contaminated Land and Hydrocarbon Contamination | 46 | |
6.10 | Spontaneous Combustion | 46 | |
6.11 | Bushfire | 47 | |
6.12 | Greenhouse Gas and Energy | 48 | |
6.13 | Waste Management | 49 | |
6.14 | Public Safety | 50 | |
7 | Water Management | 51 | |
7.1 | Water Balance | 51 | |
7.2 | Erosion and Sediment | 52 | |
7.3 | Surface Water | 55 | |
7.4 | Ground Water | 58 | |
8 | Rehabilitation | 62 | |
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ANNUAL REVIEW FY24 | |||
8.1 | Buildings and Infrastructure | 62 | |
8.2 | Topsoil | 62 | |
8.3 | Landform Design | 62 | |
8.4 | Other Activities | 66 | |
8.5 | Rehabilitation Activities for Next Reporting Period | 69 | |
9 | Community | 70 | |
9.1 | Community Engagement | 70 | |
9.2 | Community Investment | 72 | |
10 | Independent Audit | 73 | |
11 | Incidents and Non-Compliances | 88 | |
12 Activities during Next Reporting Period | 90 | ||
Appendix 1 - Surface Water Quality Monitoring Results | 93 | ||
Appendix 2 Ground Water Monitoring Results and Groundwater Level Drawdown Analysis | 96 | ||
Appendix 3 Community Complaints | 97 | ||
Appendix 4 Annual Coal Transport Report FY24 | 100 | ||
Appendix 5 Rehabilitation Plan | 108 | ||
List of Figures | |||
Figure 1: Mt Arthur Coal mining leases, approved disturbance boundary and offset areas | 11 | ||
Figure 2: Mt Arthur Coal locality plan | 12 | ||
Figure 3: Air quality, blasting, noise and meteorological monitoring locations | 20 | ||
Figure 4: Waste disposal Mt Arthur Coal FY24 (tonnes) | 50 | ||
Figure 5 Riparian Vegetation and Channel Stability Monitoring Locations | 54 | ||
Figure 6: Groundwater and surface water monitoring locations | 56 | ||
Figure 7: FY24 pasture rehabilitation in the OPD emplacement | 63 | ||
Figure 8 Bulk shaping and topsoil spreading at VD4 and VD5 Box Gum Woodland rehabilitation | 64 | ||
Figure 9 Rehabilitation Area Nomenclature | 68 | ||
Figure 10: Comparison of complaints received during current and previous financial years | 71 | ||
List of Tables | |||
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ANNUAL REVIEW FY24 | |
Table 5: Mt Arthur Coal's existing statutory approvals as at 30 June 2024 | 13 |
Table 6: Production summary | 15 |
Table 7: Actions required from FY23 Annual Review and additional requirements for FY24 Annual Review | 17 |
Table 8: Monthly attended night-time noise monitoring results in decibels | 18 |
Table 9: Attended noise monitoring results in decibels in comparison to previous years | 19 |
Table 10: Summary of blast monitoring results | 22 |
Table 11: Comparison of annual average deposited dust results | 24 |
Table 12: Summary of TEOM PM10 monitoring results using validated data | 25 |
Table 13: 24-hour PM10 exceedances and calculated Mt Arthur Coal incremental impact for statutory TEOMs | 26 |
Table 14: Summary of total suspended particulate results | 27 |
Table 15 FY24 rehabilitation monitoring sites | 29 |
Table 16: Summary of native and introduced flora species within 20 x 20 m plots and condition scores across FY24 | |
rehabilitation sites | 29 |
Table 17 SDS1: Comparison between reference site and benchmark values | 30 |
Table 18 SDS1 assessment against phase and domain specific criteria | 30 |
Table 19 CD1: Comparison between historic data, reference site and benchmark values | 32 |
Table 20 CD1 data comparison to draft completion criteria | 32 |
Table 21 VB2: Comparison between historic data, reference site and benchmark values | 34 |
Table 22 VB2 data comparison to draft completion criteria | 34 |
Table 23 VB3: Comparison between historic data, reference site and benchmark values | 35 |
Table 24 VB3 data comparison to draft completion criteria | 36 |
Table 25 MD1: Comparison between historic data, reference site and benchmark values | 37 |
Table 26 MD1 data comparison to draft completion criteria | 38 |
Table 27 Dump 11: Comparison between historic data, reference site and benchmark values | 39 |
Table 28 Dump 11 data comparison to draft completion criteria | 40 |
Table 29 Pest animal control program results for FY24 | 42 |
Table 30: Summary of spontaneous combustion at Mt Arthur Coal in FY24 (July 23 - June 24) | 47 |
Table 31 Annual GHG Emissions (Scope 1 & 2) | 48 |
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ANNUAL REVIEW FY24 | |
Table 32: Water take for FY24 | 51 |
Table 33: Riparian vegetation assessment - FY24 RARC and CSIRO Assessment Results | 53 |
Table 34: Summary of statutory surface water quality monitoring results | 57 |
Table 35: Groundwater Level Trigger Exceedances | 59 |
Table 36: Groundwater Quality Trigger Exceedances | 60 |
Table 37 Mt Arthur Coal pasture seed mix | 65 |
Table 38: Mt Arthur Coal rehabilitation claimed for FY24 | 65 |
Table 39: Mt Arthur Coal rehabilitation summary | 66 |
Table 40 Diversity Tube stock mix used on VD5 | 67 |
Table 41: Summary of IEA Non-Compliances and Recommendations | 73 |
Table 42: 2023 Independent Environmental Audit Non-compliance Recommendations and Actions | 74 |
Table 43: Mt Arthur Coal's performance against targets for FY24 | 91 |
Table 44. Daily train movements FY24 | 101 |
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ANNUAL REVIEW FY24
Table 1: Annual Review title block
Document Details
Name of Operation | Mt Arthur Coal |
Name of Operator | Hunter Valley Energy Coal Pty Ltd |
Project Approvals | PA 09_0062 (MOD 1) |
PA 06_0091 | |
Name of holder of project approvals | Hunter Valley Energy Coal Pty Ltd |
Mining Leases | CCL 744, CL 396, ML 1358, ML 1487, ML 1548, |
ML1593, ML1655, ML 1739, ML 1757, MPL 263 | |
Name of holder of mining leases | Hunter Valley Energy Coal Pty Ltd; Mt Arthur Coal |
Pty Limited | |
WAL 917, WAL 918, WAL 1296, WAL 18141, WAL | |
Water Licences | 18247, WAL 41495, WAL 41556, WAL 41557, WAL |
18175 | |
Name of holder of water licences | Hunter Valley Energy Coal Pty Ltd |
Forward Program Commencement Date | 1 August 2023 |
Forward Program Completion Date | 30 June 2026 |
Annual Review Commencement Date | 1 July 2023 |
Annual Review Completion Date | 30 June 2024 |
I, Sarah Bailey, certify that this audit report is a true and accurate record of the compliance status of Mt Arthur Coal for the period 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 and that I am authorised to make this statement on behalf of Hunter Valley Energy Coal Pty Ltd.
Note. | ||
• | The Annual Review is an 'environmental audit' for the purposes of section 122B(2) of the Environmental Planning and | |
Assessment Act 1979. Section 122E provides that a person must not include false or misleading information (or | ||
provide information for inclusion in) an audit report produced to the Minister in connection with an environmental audit | ||
if the person knows that the information is false or misleading in a material respect. The maximum penalty is, in the | ||
case of a corporation, $1 million and for an individual, $250,000. | ||
• | The Crimes Act 1900 contains other offences relating to false and misleading information: section 192G (Intention to | |
defraud by false or misleading statement-maximum penalty 5 years imprisonment); sections 307A, 307B and 307C | ||
(False or misleading applications/information/documents-maximum penalty 2 years imprisonment or $22,000, or | ||
both). | ||
Name of authorised reporting officer | Sarah Bailey | |
Title of authorised reporting officer | Manager Approvals, Land Access, Heritage and | |
Environment - Mt Arthur Coal | ||
Signature of authorised reporting officer | ||
Date | 10/01/2025 | |
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ANNUAL REVIEW FY24
1 Statement of Compliance
A statement of Mt Arthur Coal's compliance with its project approvals and mining leases is presented in Table 2 with four identified non-compliances during the reporting period being discussed in Table 3.
Table 2: Statement of compliance
Were all conditions of the relevant approval(s) complied with?
PA 09_0062
EPL 11457
EPBC 2011/5866
EPBC 2014/7377
ML
YES
NO
YES
YES
YES
Table 3: Non-compliance summary
Relevant | Condition | Description | Compliance | Comment | Report | ||||||||||||
approval | Summary | Status | Reference | ||||||||||||||
Workshop Drain | EPA issued Warning Letter due to | ||||||||||||||||
EPL | Non-compliant | partially clogged hardstand drainage | |||||||||||||||
O2.1 | Condition Warning | Section 11 | |||||||||||||||
11457 | (Low) | grates and a drainage line containing | |||||||||||||||
Letter | |||||||||||||||||
other items and rubbish. | |||||||||||||||||
EPL | <95% data capture | Non-compliant | Mt Arthur Coal recorded <95% data | ||||||||||||||
M9.6 | at EPL Air Quality | capture at one EPL air quality monitoring | Section 11 | ||||||||||||||
11457 | (Low) | ||||||||||||||||
Monitoring Point | point. | ||||||||||||||||
Sewage Treatment | The STP flow meter ceased to continue | ||||||||||||||||
EPL | Non-compliant | totalisation of flow rate and as such, the | |||||||||||||||
M7.1 | Plant (STP) Flow | Section 11 | |||||||||||||||
11457 | (Low) | data could not be recovered between 31 | |||||||||||||||
Capture | |||||||||||||||||
October 2023 and 16 January 2024. | |||||||||||||||||
Additional STPs | MAC recently identified additional minor | ||||||||||||||||
STP's that discharge to land/water on-site | |||||||||||||||||
EPL | O2 and | On-site | Non-compliant | ||||||||||||||
where maintenance records were unable | Section 11 | ||||||||||||||||
11457 | R5.5 | Maintenance | (Low) | ||||||||||||||
to be provided for the Annual Return | |||||||||||||||||
Records | |||||||||||||||||
Reporting Period | |||||||||||||||||
Note: Compliance Status key for Table 3 |
Risk Level | Colour code | Description | ||||
High | Non-compliant | Non-compliance with potential for significant environmental consequences, regardless | ||||
of the likelihood of occurrence | ||||||
Medium | Non-compliant | Non-compliance with: | ||||
➢ | potential for serious environmental consequences, but is unlikely to occur; or | |||||
➢ | potential for moderate environmental consequences, but is likely to occur | |||||
Low | Non-compliant | Non-compliance with: | ||||
➢ | potential for moderate environmental consequences, but is unlikely to occur; or | |||||
➢ | potential for low environmental consequences, but is unlikely to occur | |||||
Administrative | Non-compliant | Only | to be applied where the non-compliance does not result in any risk of | |||
non-compliance | environmental harm (e.g. submitting a report to government later than required under | |||||
approval conditions) | ||||||
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ANNUAL REVIEW FY24
Acronyms
Acronyms | |
AHMP | Aboriginal Heritage Management Plan |
ARA | Annual rapid assessment |
BioMP | Biodiversity Management Plan |
BMP | Blast Management Plan |
CCC | Community Consultative Committee |
CCL | Consolidated coal lease |
CHPP | Coal handling and preparation plant |
CL | Coal lease |
DCCEEW | Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water |
DPHI | Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure |
DPIE | Former NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, superseded by DPHI |
DPE | Former NSW Department of Planning and Environment, superseded by DPIE, then superseded by DPHI |
DRG | Former Division of Resources and Geoscience |
EA | Environmental assessment |
EIS | Environmental impact statement |
EL | Exploration licence |
EMS | Environmental management system |
EPA | NSW Environment Protection Authority |
EPBC | Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 |
EPL | Environment Protection Licence |
FY | Financial year |
HRSTS | Hunter River Salinity Trading Scheme |
HVEC | Hunter Valley Energy Coal (Mt Arthur Coal) |
MAC | Mt Arthur Coal |
ML | Mining lease |
MSC | Muswellbrook Shire Council |
NGER | National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 |
NRAR | Natural Resources Access Regulator |
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ANNUAL REVIEW FY24
Acronyms
NSW
PA
ROM
RR
VPA
VWP
New South Wales
Project Approval
Run of mine
NSW Resources Regulator
Voluntary Planning Agreement
Vibrating wire piezometers
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ANNUAL REVIEW FY24
2 Introduction
The Mt Arthur Coal Complex is located approximately five kilometres southwest of Muswellbrook in the Upper Hunter Valley in New South Wales (NSW) and includes the Mt Arthur Coal Open Cut, the Mt Arthur Coal Underground Project (no underground operations are currently taking place), Coal Handling and Preparation Plant (CHPP), rail loop and rail load out. The Mt Arthur Coal Complex (including biodiversity offset areas) and surrounding region is shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2.
This Annual Review details the environmental and community performance for the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 for operations at the Mt Arthur Coal Complex.
This document has been prepared in accordance with the Annual Review guidelines issued by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment in October 2015 and fulfils statutory reporting requirements required in mining leases and Schedule 5 Condition 3 of the Mt Arthur Coal Mine Open Cut Consolidation Project Approval Modification 1 (09_0062 MOD 1).
This report was prepared in consultation with the NSW Resources Regulator (RR), the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI), NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR). The report is distributed to a range of external stakeholders and is available on the BHP website at https://www.bhp.com/sustainability/environment/regulatory-information/.
Contact details for personnel associated with environmental management at Mt Arthur Coal can be found in Table 4.
Table 4: Mt Arthur Coal management contact details
Name and role
Phone contact details
Grant Clouten - General Manager, BHP Mt Arthur Coal | (02) 6544 5800 |
Sarah Bailey - Manager Approvals, Land Access, Heritage and Environment, BHP Mt Arthur Coal | (02) 6544 5800 |
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Disclaimer
BHP Group Limited published this content on January 15, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on January 15, 2025 at 01:28:04.426.