Australia to pay China's Shenhua Energy A$262m to buy back mining licence

Sydney

AUSTRALIA'S New South Wales state said on Wednesday it would buy back half of a coal exploration licence from China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd, bowing to pressure from farmers and environmentalists opposed to mining on prime agricultural land.

The government of Australia's most populous state said it had agreed to pay A$262 million (S$277 million) to buy back 51.4 per cent of Shenhua's exploration licence on the Liverpool Plains 400 km north-west of Sydney.