Whitehaven Coal has announced to the Australian Securities Exchange it will go ahead with the construction of the $767 million open-cut Maules Creek mine in the Gunnedah Basin in north-western New South Wales. The company says legal action launched by the Northern Inland Council for the Environment does not stop it from relying on the approval granted by the Federal Government in February. The council has commenced legal proceedings in the Federal Court against former Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke and Whitehaven Coal, challenging the validity of the approval process.