Export deals a saviour for SW coal miner

Griffin Coal expects to start exporting Collie coal out of the Bunbury Port within months in the hope of restoring the indebted mine to profitability.

The Department of Environment Regulation has given works approval for Griffin to export up to 1.25 million tonnes a year from Berth 5 at the port.

The exports could add up to $80 million a year in extra revenue for Griffin which could bring the mine out of debt.

The approval for Berth 5 is separate to Griffin’s ambitious application to export up to 15 million tonnes a year from Berth 14A at the port.

Griffin spokesman David Trench said exports should start in late January or early February as an “interim project” while the company waited for final approvals for Berth 14A.

Mr Trench said he was fielding a “phenomenal number” of inquiries from potential buyers in Asia while the miner also looked at supplying domestic projects.

“We are trying to do something smart with Collie’s coal and not just throw it over the fence to the power stations,” he said.

The Conservation Council of WA is appealing for the department to cancel its works approval claiming the approval may be unlawful.

Council spokesman Cameron Poustie said Griffin’s Berth 5 plans should not have been approved while the Berth 14A proposal was still under appeal.

Mr Poustie said the appeals argued for stricter environmental conditions to limit potentially dangerous coal dust emissions.

The results of appeals to the Environmental Protection Authority from the council, residents and Perth-based climate change activists are yet to be determined.

Mr Trench dismissed concerns about coal dust, saying the transport of the coal in containers would be “sealed from mine to port”.

He said Griffin planned to use the existing Collie to Bunbury train line to send the coal to the berth.

The Indian-owned mine faces at least a six month wait for the final approvals for Berth 14A — which would make coal Bunbury’s biggest export.

The company will also be required to apply for separate environmental applications before expanding mining in the Collie coalfields at Muja South.

A department spokeswoman said any person — who is not the applicant — who disagrees with a condition of the works approval may lodge an appeal with Environment Minister Bill Marmion.