Glencore currently operate a complex of coal mines around Mount Owen in the Hunter Valley. The Glendell open cut mine, about 20km northwest of Singleton, is part of this complex, and has been in operation since 2008.
The Glendell expansion project would see Glencore continue mining for an additional 21 years to 2044, extracting a further 135 million tonnes of coal destined to be burnt for power and to make steel.
Glendell Expansion Impacts
One of the most serious impacts of the Glendell expansion is the destruction of the cultural heritage of the Ravensworth homestead and surrounding estate.
The homestead and estate hold significant cultural and historical value as a site of resistance to colonisation by local Aboriginal peoples, and due to associations with the murders of Aboriginal people at the hands of settlers.
Image: Ravensworth Homestead
The Plains Clan of the Wonnarua People have lodged an application under Commonwealth Aboriginal heritage legislation to have the area protected.
The Heritage Council has stated that Glencore’s proposal to relocate the homestead ‘will result in the irreversible loss of its state significance in the form of its significantly intact fabric, archaeology, Aboriginal and colonial landscape setting and views’.
