Whitehaven Coal Limited
(ASX:WHC) has the effective go-ahead to begin construction at the Maules Creek coalmine near Tamworth after the Federal Court rejected claims by environmental groups that its approval broke the law.
The mine, which is planned for the Gunnedah Basin in northern NSW, has been the subject of legal action by conservation group the Northern Inland Council for the Environment.
The group claims in legal submissions that the former environment minister Tony Burke breached the law when he hastily approved the mine to go ahead.
Justice Dennis Cowdroy dismissed the claims on the basis that some of the evidence was not relevant.
Whitehaven Coal slumped to an $82.1 million loss in the 2013 financial year.
