The tiny Hunter Valley town has won a three-year battle against mining giant Rio Tinto, after a court ruling overturned a state-government endorsed decision to dig an open-cut coal mine next to the town. A Rio Tinto subsidiary, Coal & Allied, had been granted approval to mine bushland next to the town that had been set aside as an ‘‘offset’’ a decade ago. It was to create 150 mining jobs, and extract 18million tonnes of coal a year, in the community of 300 people.
See http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1434359/bulga-wins-battle-against-rio-tinto-over-mine/?cs=303.