The project was to be located approximately 25 km south-east of the town of Gunnedah, near the village of Breeza and carried out by state-owned Chinese mining company Shenhua Group.

The project was controversial because of the location in the Liverpool Plains, a primary agricultural region of Australia.

[1] The project, valued at A$1 billion, once operational, was expected to extract 10 million tonnes of coal per year and have a 30-year live span.

[2] The project was conditionally approved by Federal Environmental Minister Greg Hunt but this approval was severely criticised by Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce who was also the local MP for the area.

Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott pointed out that the mine is not located on fertile soil but rather on hill country.