On 2 September 2025 the Minister approved the Ulan coal mine modification 6. The official name for a 2-year, 2 km extension to the existing Ulan underground coal mine in central‑west New South Wales. The extension to the mine will extract 16.3 million tonnes of coal and generate 42 million tonnes of additional climate change emissions. The original plan, to mine 65 million tonnes of coal, was scaled back in 2024 for operational constraints, rather than environmental concerns.

The project has the potential to negatively impact 55 ha of native vegetation communities, 9.5 ha of box gum woodland (a critically endangered ecological community), the habitat of the large-eared pied bat (a vulnerable species) and increases the probability of perceptible impacts for 48 Aboriginal sites or potential archaeological deposits.

In what must be particularly pleasing to the owners of the mine, multinational mining company Glenore, is that this approval signals that another project is probably guaranteed approval. Under EPBC 2025/10123 Glencore is proposing to extend the mine further, in a different direction, by an additional six years, mining 11 million tonnes of coal, and generating 31 million tonnes in additional climate change emissions.

For the coal industry more broadly, as noted in our submission in objection to the original Ulan modification project, Murray Watt’s first coal approval sends a strong signal that existing coal mine approvals are easily extended. It must be party time indeed in the coal industry knowing that under the new minister they will still be required to do little to meet Australia’s 2030 emission targets, nor the soon to be announced 2035 targets.