Nathan Tinkler. Photo: Jonathan Carroll
THE New South Wales government will meet early next week to consider a proposal from coal entrepreneur Nathan Tinkler to build a privately owned coal loader at Newcastle.
Mr Tinkler's Hunter Ports is seeking approval to build a 100 million-tonne facility - costing about $2.5 billion - which puts it at odds with a rival expansion plan of Port Waratah Coal Services for a further export terminal.
The two projects are intended to lift coal export capacity to 205 million tonnes a year, with plans for the further 100 million-tonne expansion from about 2015.
