The Federal Government has approved a project to extend open-cut operations at the Saraji mine’s Grevillea pit for decades to come.

Located about 20km north of Dysart in the Bowen Basin, the Saraji operation (pictured above) is owned by the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA).

“This project supports existing operations at Saraji mine, which has been contributing to the regional economy and local communities across central Queensland for 54 years,” a BMA spokesman said. “The Commonwealth’s environmental approval enables production as planned.”

The Grevillea Pit Continuation Project would see mining operations continue in areas east of the existing pits at Saraji and is expected to support planned production from FY27 and beyond.

The project has an estimated end date of 2055.

The decision to approve it under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, with conditions, was made public today.

The Climate Council slammed the approval, saying it was the 10th fossil fuel project greenlit by the Federal Government this term, and the 37th since the Albanese Government was elected in 2022.

“The Prime Minister says the entry fee for credibility in the Pacific is taking climate change seriously, and now his government approved 55 million tonnes of coal while he was still in the room with Pacific leaders (at this week’s meeting in Palau),” Climate Council chief executive officer Amanda McKenzie said.

She said the project would dodge tighter ‘best-practice’ pollution limits under the Safeguard Mechanism, as they applied only to brand-new projects, allowing major expansions and extensions to skirt responsibility for their pollution.

“Let’s call a spade a spade: this is a brand new, multi-million dollar project that should face the same rules as any other new facility,” she said.

“Instead, multinational mining giants like BHP are exploiting loopholes in our industrial pollution law by calling the project a continuation. Four in five coal projects in the approval queue right now are extensions. That’s not a coincidence.”

Coal Australia chief executive officer Stuart Bocking welcomed the decision to allow the Grevillea Pit Continuation Project to go ahead.

“It supports the existing operations at Saraji mine which have been critical to local jobs and the local economy of Central Queensland for over half a century,” Mr Bocking said. “This approval enables production to proceed as planned.”

Mr Bocking described opposition to the approval from activist groups as ‘predictable noise from the usual suspects who have no regard for the jobs and prosperity generated by our coal mining communities’.

“The coal and iron ore sectors underpin the nation’s jobs, wealth, AAA credit rating and trade credentials, with no other commodity or energy source even coming close,” he said.

It is understood that BMA does not consider the Grevillea Pit Continuation Project to be a growth project. In recent years BHP has maintained it would not commit to investing in any expansion or growth of its operations in Queensland under the State’s present coal royalty regime.

The State Government late last year assessed BMA’s Saraji East mining lease project as ‘suitable to proceed’, but the company indicated that proposed longwall operation would effectively remain parked up due to the ‘unsustainable’ coal royalty rates.

Related: BHP has plan to optimise Qld coal assets, not sell: Craig

New BHP chief executive officer Brandon Craig last month backed a bright future for BMA.

“BMA is home to some of the world’s best steelmaking coal – an ingredient that will remain critical to steelmaking for decades. Having spent a fair bit of time there as well, I know what that business is capable of and firmly believe its best years are in front of it,” he said during BHP’s full-year results presentation.

“We have a plan to improve performance and returns, and that plan doesn’t include selling the business.

“Our ongoing focus on strengthening the supply chain and cost productivity is expected to lift production and reduce costs over the medium term. And we believe there is potential to invest further if fiscal conditions improve.”