Hunter Valley Operations: Why NSW should reject its biggest-ever coal mine

In short

Hunter Valley Operations is the largest coal mine expansion ever proposed in NSW. Proposed by Glencore in a joint venture with Yancoal, it would extend two existing open-cut coal mines into the 2040s and unleash more than 800 million tonnes of climate pollution. That’s a climate bomb that would supercharge climate disasters and rising costs already hitting the Hunter and all Australians.

What’s next?

The project is currently before the NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC), which is due to decide whether it goes ahead by early September 2026. The IPC is required to consider the project’s full climate impacts from both the direct pollution it will release in NSW, and the pollution released when the coal is burned overseas. Given the scale of what’s at stake, the IPC should reject the expansion and help secure a safer future for the people and environment of NSW.

The proposed expansion of the Hunter Valley Operations’ open-cut coal mines would lock in hundreds of millions of tonnes of climate pollution, at a time when NSW families are already living with worsening climate disasters and rising costs. Here’s what you need to know about the project and its impacts.

AT A GLANCE

Project: Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) Continuation Project – an expansion of two existing open-cut coal mines
Proponent: Glencore, in a joint venture with Yancoal
Location: Hunter Valley, New South Wales
Scale: The largest coal mine expansion ever proposed in NSW history
Timeframe: Would extend coal mining operations into the 2040s
Climate pollution: More than 800 million tonnes of climate pollution over its lifetime, more than seven times NSW’s annual climate pollution
Decision-maker: The NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) is due to hand down its determination in September 2026. If approved, it would then go to the Federal Government for environmental approval.

What’s the go with HVO?

Hunter Valley Operations is already one of the largest coal mining operations in Australia. Now Glencore and Yancoal have proposed to extend the life of their two open-cut coal mines by almost 20 years, pushing operations into the 2040s.

This is the biggest coal mine expansion ever put forward in New South Wales, at a time when we need to be cutting pollution further and faster to build a safer and cleaner future.

A climate bomb that would put more Australians in harm’s way

Approving this climate bomb would unleash more than 800 million tonnes of climate pollution, which is more than seven times NSW’s annual climate pollution. That breaks down as:

15.1 million tonnes of climate pollution at the mine site
793.8 million tonnes when the coal is burned

Most of this coal would be shipped overseas, where it would be burned in power stations to generate electricity, or in factories to make metal. But climate harm doesn’t care about borders. What NSW exports as coal, we import back as floods, bushfires, heatwaves and droughts. The National Climate Risk Assessment found that NSW has had more disasters than any other state or territory in the past 20 years.

The Hunter region is especially exposed. It ranks as the 10th most at-risk federal electorate in the country for climate extremes, with more than one in ten local properties (around 12,300 homes) already at high risk of becoming uninsurable.

NSW communities are already paying the price for climate pollution

Climate pollution from coal, oil and gas is already costing Australians: the NSW Net Zero Commission has found the average NSW resident is around $20,000 a year worse off because of climate impacts.

Meanwhile, the coal companies behind the project stand to profit. While families across NSW pick up the bill for these worsening disasters, Glencore and Yancoal are seeking to make around $6 billion from the HVO expansion alone.

Contradicting NSW’s climate targets

The proposed HVO coal mine expansion would fly in the face of the NSW Government’s commitments to cut climate pollution and protect the community. The NSW Net Zero Commission has warned that new coal mining approvals are not consistent with the state’s legislated climate targets and obligations under the Climate Change (Net Zero Future) Act or the Paris Agreement.

Fast Fact: HVO would generate more than 800 million tonnes of climate pollution throughout its life, more than seven times what the whole of NSW produces in a single year.

Local environmental and health risks

The damage isn’t limited to climate impacts. The mine’s two open-cut coal pits sit either side of the Hunter River, and decades more mining means decades more pressure on the river and the local water resources that farming and tourism depend on, alongside continued dust and air pollution for nearby towns. These are costs Hunter communities and crews would carry for another generation, on top of the climate impacts felt right across the state.

What about jobs?

Coal is a declining industry. As countries around the world switch to clean energy, global demand for thermal coal is in long-term decline. Locking the Hunter into another two decades of coal won’t give workers or the region the certainty they deserve. It just kicks the can down the road.

The Hunter needs investment in industries that will last. The region is well placed to become a clean energy powerhouse, with real potential for secure, long-term jobs in clean energy and storage. With a genuine plan to back those industries and to support coal workers and their communities through the transition, the Hunter can build a stronger economy that doesn’t depend on a product the world is moving away from.

What’s next?

The decision on whether the HVO expansion could go ahead now rests with the NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC), which is due to hand down its determination by 4 September 2026.

Unlike the federal approval process that may follow, the IPC has the responsibility to weigh the project’s full climate impacts, including from the 793.8 million tonnes of climate pollution released when the coal is burned. Given the scale of that pollution, and the risk it poses to communities already living with worsening disasters, the IPC should reject the HVO expansion and help secure a safer future for the people and environment of NSW.