Among the six new coal mine proposals recently added to Coal Mine Tracker two are completely new mines, known in mining circles as ‘greenfield’ proposals. Most new coal projects are extensions to established operations, known as ‘brownfield’ sites. The two new mines are:

1. Corvus Coal Mine (Qld): Underground coking coal proposal by Corvus Resources Pty Ltd, ABC for production of 6.6 Mt a year over 25 years to 2055.
2. Callan Coking Coal (Qld): Proposed by accused koala killers and illegal miners, Vitrinite Pty Ltd, the project will mine a 1 MT coking coal bulk sample, with aims for a full scale operation.

What makes these proposals so outlandish is that while the Minister for Resources, Madeleine King, and the Prime Minister have both recently highlighted the Government’s net zero emissions by 2050 target, the mining industry still see a long enough future for coal mining to submit greenfield sites for EPBC approval.

The process to start a new coal mine, including EPBC approvals, can take many years, so proposals submitted must expect a high probability of approval. That the mining industry still expects Australian Government approval for greenfield coal mine1s in 2025 suggests that the Australian Government’s commitment to climate action is paper thin.

But the new Environment Minister, Murray Watt, has a chance to act. On 16 June 2025, he must decide if the Callan Coking Coal proposal is a controlled action that requires a full assessment under the EPBC framework, or if it can proceed without environmental assessment. While this initial proposal is for a ‘bulk sample’ of one million tonnes of coal, it is inevitable that the mine’s owners will try to expand it into a full-scale mine.

Minister Watt should reject the proposal via the EPBC process making a clear statement that greenfield coal proposals can no longer be developed in Australia.

Also interesting is that both proposals are in Queensland. Queensland changed its royalty system to get raise more money for the public in 2022. Coal companies such as BHP claimed this would lead to reduced mining investment in the state. BHP was completely wrong, as we’ve pointed out before.