OREANDA-NEWS. The New South Wales (NSW) state government has approved Australia-listed coal producer Yancoal's plans to extend its Stratford mine to export an additional 21.5mn t of coal over 11 years.

The mine development requires final approval by Australia's federal government, with Yancoal only making a final decision on the timing of the project once this is received. The timing will depend on market conditions and the ability of the firm to fund such a project. Yancoal, which is majority owned by China's state-controlled Yanzhou, is currently focused on the expansion of its Moorlaben thermal and coking coal mine in western NSW to 12mn t/yr from 6.4mn t/yr..

Yancoal shut the high-ash thermal and semi-soft coking coal Stratford mine in July last year as part of its cost cutting programme designed to return it to profitability. Stratford is part of Yancoal's Stratford-Duralie complex, with the expansion possibly returning it to production levels of around 2.6mn t/yr.

Yancoal made a loss of A\$354mn (\$271mn) for 2014, which was an improvement on a loss of A\$832mn in 2013 after it cut costs by closing less efficient capacity. It sold 14.91mn t of coal in 2014, down from 15.43mn t in 2013. It has a sales target of 13.88mn t in 2015.