Wollongong Coal wins approval to restart mining at Wongawilli

It's another boost to the miner, owned by India's Jindal Steel and Power, which has also won permission to re-open at Russell Vale after several years of inactivity and financial difficulty.

The department's assessment and reasoning shows that the key to the approval, given the mine's proximity to Lake Avon, was that it involves first workings extraction - driving a roadway towards the main resource, with no longwall mining planned.

This would result in less surface damage and subsidence to the water catchment above the mine.

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Wongawilli was previously a longwall operation but the longwall mining machine was buried under a roof collapse in 2014.

In giving consent, DPE said the extension was in the public interest and would result in the employment of 150 people for five years.

"The department accepts that the proposed first workings have been designed to be long-term stable and would result in negligible subsidence or subsidence related impacts to natural or built features," it said.

"The issues raised by the community during consultation and in submissions have been considered and adequately addressed through changes to the project and the recommended conditions of consent."

While the re-opening of the mine would result in increased greenhouse gas emissions, DPE said this would "not significantly" increase the state's emissions levels.

A "Sustainability and Emissions Reduction Strategy" would need to be prepared, with a requirement to "reduce or offset" emissions by 4 per cent each year, DPE said.

A previous version of this story said explosive blasting would be limited to normal business hours. This was incorrect; blasting is not approved for Wongawilli.

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