Rio Tinto Limited
(ASX:RIO) says a court decision to block the expansion of its Warkworth coal mine puts more than 150 New South Wales projects and tens of billions of dollars at risk, according to media reports.
The miner’s energy chief executive Harry Kenyon-Slaney told media the NSW Land and Environment Court's decision to halt the Warkworth expansion potentially set a precedent that could jeopardise the broader economic development of the state.
He says the impact could be felt even beyond the mining sector.
Rio Tinto’s subsidiary Coal & Allied has lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court against the decision prohibiting the Mt Thorley Warkworth mine expansion.
The court ruling overturned the NSW government’s approval of the project.
Rio Tinto posted a net loss of $2.9 billion in its 2012 financial year.
