Thank you very much, everybody. Welcome to the 2025 Annual General Meeting of Yancoal Australia. My name is Greg Fletcher. I'm Co-Vice Chairman, an independent on-executive Director, and Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee. I'm pleased to chair today's meeting and welcome those shareholders, interested parties, and staff in attendance. I begin today's meeting by acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, traditional custodians on the land on which we meet today, and pay our respects to elders past, present, and future. I extend my respects to any Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander people that may be with us today. 2024 was the 20th anniversary of Yancoal. The company was established in 2004 by Yancoal's majority shareholder, now known as Yancoal Energy Group. Over the past 20 years, through prudent acquisitions and asset expansions, Yancoal has grown to be a leading large-scale, low-cost coal producer.
The company holds interest in six producing mines and operates two more on behalf of Yancoal Energy. These eight mines have the capacity to produce 70 million tonnes of ROM coal and about 55 million tonnes of saleable coal, making Yancoal the second largest coal producer in Australia. I've been informed by the share registry that a quorum is present, and I declare the Annual General Meeting open. Please let me introduce you to my fellow directors attending in person or by telephone conference today. Chairman Ru , Ning Yue, and our acting CEO is here today. Mr. Huang, Mr. Zhao, Mr. Li, Debra Bakker, and also with us today is Peter Smith. I'd also like to introduce some of our executives that are with us today. We have Kevin Su, closest to me. Kevin is the CFO. Mark Salem, Head of Marketing.
Mark Jacobs, Head of Environment and External Affairs. Sharif Burra, Head of Safety and Environment. Mr. Huang, Mr. Zhao, Mr. Li, and Mr. Smith were appointed to the Board between December last year and February this year. They are long-standing industry participants and possess extensive experience in relevant disciplines, including mining operations, finance, accounting, corporate transactions, and mining as company directors. As many of you are aware, we are currently undertaking a CEO transition process and look forward to providing an update on the process once we're in a position to do so. Given the transition process, we have several members of our high-caliber executive team present today to provide support during the meeting. I'll now commence today's proceedings. The commentary provided today includes forward-looking statements, the notices, and disclaimers on slides three and four pertaining to these topics.
This year, we have again encouraged shareholders to participate in the AGM via webcast. In addition, we have done our best to ensure that all shareholders and proxy holders will have the opportunity to participate in the meeting, including for those entitled, the ability to ask questions at the end of the formal proceedings. Every effort was made to ensure that the meeting proceeds smoothly. Being a dual-listed company, the relevant documents have been disseminated on both the Australian Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. Today's meeting can be observed online via the Computer Share Virtual Meeting Services platform. This allows shareholders, proxy holders, and guests to observe the meeting virtually. In addition, shareholders and proxy holders can submit written questions in real time.
If you have joined us through the Computer Share Virtual Meeting Services platform, you can start submitting your written questions now, and we will address them later in the meeting. Please also note that your questions may be moderated or amalgamated if we receive multiple questions which deal with the same topic. At Yancoal, keeping our workforce safe is always our first consideration. In recent months, our total recordable injury frequency rate has once again resumed a downward trend, but it's not at the level we would like. We remain committed to further improving the trend through targeted safety intervention initiatives. Our TRIFR may be below the industry average, but we are keen to see it improve. Yancoal was nominated as a finalist in the New South Wales Mineral Council HSEC Awards in the Health Excellence category for the Yancoal Mental Health Program.
Our focus on sustainability, as with safety, is continual. Last year, we published our first sustainability report, moving beyond the Environmental, Social, and Governance report published in past years. In April, we released our second sustainability report, which integrates previous disclosures with additional content as we prepare for increased disclosures required by the Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards, as well as the requirements of the ASX and Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. Existing initiatives include upgrades to our mining fleets and equipment replacement to deliver increased mining efficiency and reduce fuel burn. Initiatives include the replacement of three excavators at Moolarben and at Mount Thorley Warkworth, introducing 10 new trucks and replacing the engines on two excavators. At the Ashton Mine, the installation of 1.5-meter thick mega seals is designed to reduce ventilation air methane emissions compared to the use of conventional seals.
The project enables methane collection in specific underground locations, improving gas purity for flaring and capture. We delivered on our production guidance in 2024. From nearly 63 million tonnes of total ROM coal, we generated 36.9 million tonnes of attributable production, a 10% increase on 2023. Our realised coal price, while lower than the prior year, was still very healthy at AUD 176 per tonne. We also delivered on our cost guidance. A strong second half brought the full year cash costs down to AUD 93 per tonne. This gave us an implied cash operating margin of AUD 66 per tonne. Our strong production, healthy realised price, and low- cost drove the financial performance. AUD 6.9 billion of revenue and AUD 2.6 billion of operating EBITDA, adding 37% margin, were great outcomes.
We delivered AUD 1.2 billion of profit after tax and finished the year with close to AUD 2.5 billion in cash and added a further AUD 136 million to the cash position during the first quarter. The Board decided to return AUD 687 million to shareholders by way of a final dividend. This was a payout ratio of 56% and delivered shareholders AUD 0.52 per share fully franked. The closing share price on the [3rd] of April payment was close to AUD 5 per share, giving a yield in excess of 10% using that share price. We saw 2024 as a year of supply recovery. Australian thermal coal exports increased 2% in 2024, and most other export countries increased export sales. This increase in supply met the China and India dominated demand growth stemming from China's expansion of coal-fired power capacity and India's strong demand for electricity.
Although thermal indices were stable through 2024, our realized thermal coal price of AUD 160 per tonne was down 24% on 2023. Metallurgical coal markets exhibited declining demand in the second half of 2024, driven by weak steel market conditions as global steel output fell approximately 6% compared to 2023. Although China's demand growth continued, it was met by strong land-borne imports from Mongolia and Russia. Our realized metallurgical coal price was AUD 276 per tonne, down 22% on 2023. So far in 2025, international coal indices have been under pressure. Fortunately, our large-scale, low-cost mines see us well positioned to ride out this downturn in the coal price cycle. Yancoal is in a strong financial shape with about AUD 1.8 billion of cash and no interest-bearing debt. We look forward to delivering on our 2025 operating guidance and continue to look for value-adding opportunities to carry the company forward.
We will now move to the formal consideration of the business before the Annual General Meeting. Anyone attending in person today will have been issued an attendance card. Blue indicates a voting shareholder or proxy holder for the Yancoal Australia Annual General Meeting. Yellow indicates a non-voting shareholder, and white indicates a non-voting visitor. Persons holding either a blue or yellow card are entitled to speak at this meeting. However, only those persons holding a blue card are entitled to vote at this meeting. If any shareholder here is eligible to vote and does not have a blue colored card, would you please raise your hand now? Persons holding a white card are only entitled to observe the meeting and not entitled to vote or speak at this meeting. Resolutions will be decided by poll conducted at the end of the meeting.
The poll results will be available on the ASX and Hong Kong Exchange websites later today. The following summary outlines the items of business for today's meeting in accordance with the Notice of Annual General Meeting for Yancoal Australia, which was published on our website and dispatched to shareholders. The Notice of Meeting contains the text of each resolution to be put to this meeting. With your approval, I now move that the Notice of Annual General Meeting be taken as read and the text of each resolution be taken as read. All those in favor, please raise your blue attendance card. All those against, please raise your blue attendance card. The proposal is passed and notice is taken to be read. Thank you. Item one is the receipt and consideration of the company's financial report for the year ended 31st of December 2024.
I will take that report as read. A representative of SW Audit, Yancoal's auditor, is present and available to answer any specific questions about the preparation and content of the auditor's report. Item two is the election of directors. Four individuals are nominated to be elected. Three as non-executive directors and one as an independent non-executive director. The biographical details for all four directors are contained in the explanatory notes to the Notice of Meeting. Item three is the adoption of the remuneration report. The remuneration report is contained within the 2024 annual report. I will take the report as read. This vote is advisory only and not binding on the company or its directors. Voting exclusions apply to this resolution as outlined in the Notice of Meeting. Item four is the issue of stripped rights to the Co-Vice Chairman, Ning Yue, under the Equity Incentive Plan.
Approval is sought for the issue of up to 62,955 stripped rights to Ning Yue, the Co-Vice Chairman and executive director of the company under the company's Equity Incentive Plan on the terms set out in the explanatory notes to the Notice of Meeting. Voting exclusions apply to this resolution as outlined in the Notice of Meeting. Item five is the reappointment of the auditor and authorization to fix the auditor's remuneration. At each Annual General Meeting, the company must appoint an auditor to hold office from the conclusion of that meeting until the next Annual General Meeting and provides the Board authorization to fix the auditor's remuneration for the year ended 31st of December 2025. Items six to eight are general mandates related to issuing and repurchasing shares.
Unless the company obtains these general mandates, its ability to exercise its rights to issue shares without obtaining shareholder approval is limited. The proposed repurchase mandate gives the company flexibility to repurchase the shares if and when appropriate. Passing a resolution eight is subject to passing of resolutions numbered six and seven. The reason for this resolution is to ensure flexibility to allot and issue more shares if the proposed repurchase mandate is exercised. It is worth noting Yancoal is dual-listed on the ASX and Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. Unlike ASX listing rules, the Hong Kong listing rules require companies to seek approval for general mandates to issue and repurchase at each AGM. The company's existing mandates were last approved by shareholders at the company's 2024 AGM. Unless otherwise renewed, the existing mandates will lapse at the conclusion of this year's AGM.
Although Yancoal has sought their maximum mandate permissible under the Hong Kong Listing Rules, it still may not exceed the limit set by the ASX Listing Rules in relation to share issuance unless additional shareholder approval is obtained in compliance with the ASX Listing Rules. Both the ASX and Stock Exchange of Hong Kong set out clear limits and parameters on share issuances. The company seeks the full flexibility afforded under these limits and parameters in order to maximize its capacity to benefit shareholders should suitable opportunities arise. The Board's recommendations for all resolutions are set out in the explanatory notes to the Notice of Meeting. The Board has recommended that shareholders vote in favor of all resolutions. The proxy votes received before the meeting have been counted. The totals are shown on this slide.
I'm now going to cast the votes for the proxy as I hold on all resolutions in accordance with the directions provided by shareholders or otherwise as set out in the Notice of Meeting. As mentioned earlier, a poll will be conducted for these resolutions at the end of the meeting. We will now take questions from shareholders on any matters relevant to the business of the meeting. We will begin with the questions submitted in writing before moving on to questions from shareholders in the room and then to questions submitted by the webcast. As a reminder, only persons holding a blue or yellow card are entitled to ask questions at this meeting. Therefore, could I request any speakers from the floor please raise their blue or yellow card? Someone will bring a microphone to you so you may state your name before speaking.
If you are a proxy holder or representative of a corporate proxy, please also state the name of the shareholder you are representing. Questions received via the webcast platform may be consolidated or summarised to facilitate the session. We will now proceed with the questions.
Thank you, Mr. Fletcher. Starting with the questions received by mail from shareholders ahead of the AGM. The first question, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson asked if the directors would resume half-year dividends. A similar question from Mr. Lawson, who asked, will dividends be twice per year?
Thank you. Thanks, Mr. Lawson and Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. We appreciate dividends are important to all shareholders, including our majority shareholders. Typically, the Board evaluates the financial position for half-year and full-year results period and makes determinations on dividends in accordance with the company's constitution.
In the future, as in the past, the Board will consider the company's financial position, assess various growth opportunities, and determine the most appropriate allocation of capital. Although there was no interim dividend last year, we followed the dividend framework set out in the company's constitution by declaring a fully- franked dividend of AUD 0.52 per share. Since 2018, Yancoal has paid over AUD 5 billion in dividends. That's equivalent to AUD 3.85 per share, half of which has been fully franked.
Thank you. Moving on to the next question. Mr. Sinclair says, "ASX index inclusion has resulted in no appreciable improvement in our company's valuation. Given this and our company's world-class assets and balance sheet, why doesn't the Board initiate a buyback?"
Thanks, Mr. Sinclair. Thank you for the question and recognizing the quality of our assets. It's a good follow-up question to the dividend discussion.
The regular assessment of capital management includes the consideration of buybacks. At this stage, I believe the company's valuation has been heavily influenced by falling international coal prices than any other factors since the ASX index inclusion last September. Following the index inclusion, we observed new shareholders entering our register. Accordingly, we need to evaluate whether actions such as buybacks would, in fact, reduce free float and trading activity leading to investors leaving the register and poor value recognition for the company.
Thank you. The third question from Dr. Cao and Dr. Chiang. They ask, "How can you make the share price go up?"
Dr. Cao and Dr. Chiang, I wish I knew. But this is ultimately what the company is continually working towards. It starts with delivering on the operational guidance, which the company did in 2024.
After the first quarter, we're well placed to pursue this again this year. Our operational guidance aims to deliver large-scale, low-cost coal production for sale into the international market. This, in turn, drives our financial performance, which in turn enables the capital management discussion I've been referring to when answering the past couple of questions. Over the past 20 years, Yancoal has become the second largest coal producer in Australia while also eliminating its debt and paying all those high-yield dividends. International coal prices tend to move in cycles, and the current downturn cycle has influenced the share price recently. Fortunately, our portfolio of assets is well positioned to ride out the current cycle and benefit during the upswing in coal prices. The best approach for us to take is to maximise the operational performance and look to optimise the capital allocation to support future performance.
Thank you. Mr. Slot asks, "Why issue more shares when the company appears to be in a good financial position?" I will add a comment of my own. I assume this refers to item six on the agenda, the general mandate to issue new shares. It was not clarified in the question.
Thank you, Mr. Slot. As I touched on in my comments earlier, when discussing the items of business, the company needs to renew the general mandate each year under the Hong Kong listing rules. Because unlike the ASX, there is no standing rule that allows the issuance of a certain number of shares in Hong Kong. The general mandate is a standard resolution put to shareholders in Hong Kong-listed companies. Since listing on the Hong Kong exchange seven years ago, we have included this as a resolution at each AGM.
That said, we are still bound by the ASX Listing Rules also and cannot exceed the 15% limit set by the ASX without additional shareholder approval being obtained. The company might need to utilize the mandate. However, in order to maximize our capacity to benefit shareholders, we seek to have it in place should suitable growth opportunities arise.
The final question submitted ahead of the AGM in writing, Mr. [Adaud] asks, "Why does the company—sorry, does the company see any decline in the demand for coal in the short and long term?"
Thank you, Mr. [Adaud]. The thermal coal market tends to display both seasonal and structural trends. We have observed relatively weak seasonal demand in recent months because of a warm northern hemisphere. There are uncertainties around the global economy currently. There is also a strong supply in the export market.
These factors continue to cause the international coal prices to be low. We have a very constructive view for coal markets over the next several years as projections for global demand have been regularly revised up, and global supply will decline due to reserve exhaustion and limited new supply sources. This potentially creates a supply shortfall. If we look out 15- 20 years, then demand for thermal coal likely declines due to the global energy transition. However, on that timeframe, most of our assets have their reserves depleted in any case. Yancoal's production profile aligns with the global market outlook. The question is referring to metallurgical coal, and the short-term demand outlook will likely be driven by economic factors in construction and manufacturing.
Long-term demand is likely to have underlying stability given there is no immediate substitute for coal in the steelmaking process, and steel is not readily replaced by any other application.
Thank you, Mr. Fletcher. That concludes all the questions submitted ahead of the meeting.
Are there any questions from the floor?
Alex Catania on behalf of—
Alex, just one second. We'll bring you a microphone for the benefit of all the people and those on the webcast.
Alex Catania on behalf of the HH Future Fund. FIRB approval. So look, we're sitting on a significant amount of cash. We're supposedly in the market for an acquisition. I mean, what's the likelihood of us getting FIRB approval? I mean, if there's someone on the market, a vendor wants to act, they don't want to sit around waiting six months.
In order to pick up assets at a good price, we have to move quickly. Sometimes the conditions or the offer may be more tempting than the offer price itself. How do we work around this?
Thanks, Alex. I should say that we've had success over many years with acquisitions, and Coal & Allied was probably the last major acquisition where there was no issue with approvals, both with FIRB. There are also the Chinese approvals that were the process we need to go through. It is complex for us in terms of we have Chinese approvals, but we also have FIRB approvals. We are constantly working with FIRB on land acquisitions and others. We have a good relationship with FIRB. Depending on the opportunity, we go to FIRB and seek their approvals. We will continue to do that.
For us, it's sourcing the right opportunity, which we've done in the past. That's why we've got the strength of the business we have today, because we are very discerning in the assets we purchase. That's why we're sitting on today AUD 1.8 billion. Yes, there's FIRB approvals, there's SASEC approvals, the NDRC approvals. We'll keep on working closely with the regulators as the opportunities arise.
Yeah, like with the recent offer of Anglo- assets, which they're gone now. If we were going to go hard on them, what do you think the chances of getting FIRB approval within three to six months would have been?
I don't know what's going through FIRB's mind. I'm sure FIRB is heavily influenced by world events as well as domestic issues. I don't feel I'm qualified to comment on how FIRB's thinking.
From your experience and past transactions, do you think it would have been like a 50/50 outcome or?
Nobody can say. We have regular matters approved by FIRB. As I said, we've got a good relationship.
Thank you. Another question raised a blue card. If you have a question, thank you.
The gentleman down here.
The microphones are on. We've just got them set at a reasonably low level so it doesn't create a feedback loop for the webcast.
Mr. Chairman, my name is Enzo Peralta. I am a shareholder. Just a quick clarification. I noticed that on page one of the annual report, director's summary, director's report, there is a statement to the effect that the company had AUD 2.4 billion in the bank as of end of last year.
The financial summary, a couple of pages earlier in the financial report, shows a graph, the second last graph, showing actually a net debt of approximately AUD 2 billion. So perhaps it's my fault. I do not understand the reasons, but I would like to have a clarification. Do we have cash in the bank or a mortgage?
We've got cash in the bank. So we just paid out AUD 687 million dividend at the end of April. We're now got AUD 1.8 billion. The only debt we have is around finance leases, and that might be AUD 100 million thereabouts of finance lease if you classify that as debt. Otherwise, we're debt- free. Sorry for confusion.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. [Sinclair].
I f I could add a clarification for the benefit of those people who have looked at the chart, it's for those who can see me holding up the report.
Page eight is the bottom chart, middle of the nine, bottom row middle. We show the net debt position. As we move to a net cash position, the column goes below the zero level. So net cash actually appears as a negative net debt. It is a peculiar accounting demonstration of the cash position. So we do have a net cash position. It is the way we have configured the chart. We go from net debt five years ago to net cash. Hence, the chart moves from positive to negative.
Maybe we should add the debt as a red above their line and green for the cash.
I will take that on Board. Thank you.
Thank you. Hi, my name is Manjit Kaur. I am a proxy on the behalf of Mr. Anthony Richard Pollack. I am a Mudgee woman.
I was born and raised there, watched the Moolarben Mine come into fruition in my lifetime, and also have recently lived through the Black Summer bushfires in Mudgee, which we are still yet recovering from in terms of tourism and also our species. My question today is that Yancoal has yet to publish a climate transition action plan or a commitment to net zero emissions. Your competitor, Glencore, has published a net zero target as well as an action plan. Given the proposed Moolarben OC3 expansion, that would lend an additional 72 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions from the 30 million tons of coal produced by the project.
On top of your portfolio of emissions-heavy resource projects, how can shareholders be confident that Yancoal is addressing ESG risks, is addressing regulatory risks that are upcoming, and also addressing changes in demand in a rapidly transitioning economic scenario without a net zero target?
Thank you. Sharif, did you want to respond or Mark?
I'm happy to make some comments about our emissions profiles. First, I need to note that of the safeguard mechanism.
Can you hear me, Mark? Okay. Or maybe get a microphone. Thank you.
Thanks. Of the 219 safeguard mechanism coal mines that report under that mechanism, Moolarben is the lowest emissions coal mine of all of those. In addition, it's a low strip ratio mine, so its consumption of diesel is at a competitive advantage to most of its peers.
We are very conscious of both the federal government's emissions reduction targets, and we continue to work under that legislation. We are also conscious of the New South Wales targets, which are more onerous targets than federal targets. The New South Wales government is still developing the policy architecture to deal with the differential between the federal government's targets and the New South Wales government's targets, and we'll be working with them to meet those requirements.
Thank you so much. Is it okay if I ask an additional question?
One more.
Thank you. My next question is just a bit more specific to the OC3 expansion of the Moolarben mine. I know that the proposal is to extend it and disturb an additional 675 hectares of high conservation land close to the Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve. This is to produce an additional 30 million tons of coal, is my understanding.
Is this because the original assessment of coal resources, which were approved under the stage one development application, overpredicted the resource available in the approved Moolarben open pit? Yeah, just trying to understand why this expansion is necessary and trying to understand how the public and shareholders can have trust that this predicted additional 30 million tons also exists and will provide that benefit.
I'm sure. Just a correction. The 675 hectares is the total disturbance limit. The majority of that land has previously been farmed, both cropped and grazed. There is some native vegetation disturbance associated with the project. It is common amongst the resources sector that projects will commence in a particular area with a particular footprint. There is opportunity through surrounding exploration licenses to further develop knowledge of the resource.
It's very expensive to develop the knowledge of the resource because it requires drilling. You need to start somewhere, and then as cash flow starts supporting the project, it provides the cash resources to do further exploration in the surrounding exploration licenses. So that's effectively Moolarben taking advantage of its exploration licenses to continue to develop resource knowledge and to assess opportunity.
Thank you so much.
Any further questions? Please raise a blue or yellow card.
Good day. My name's Nick, corporate shareholder, Bureau [Fegazi], Dogwood [Fleece] family account. Thank God that we didn't buy the Anglo- assets is the immediate reaction a lot of us are probably having and loading up the balance statement debt. No doubt you would have looked at it. What was your view on the price paid for those assets?
Was that a price that you thought was fair and reasonable for those assets?
I should ask you.
I said, thank God.
That's probably the answer.
Perhaps I could offer some of the investor relations observations. We typically do not comment on specific transactions past or underway, and we certainly do not comment on other transactions that we are not involved in in a view on valuation. I think there is good media coverage of some of the issues that have occurred, and there was speculation Yancoal was involved in the process, but without specific comment to actual participation. I think touching back on the comments earlier from Mr. Fletcher, we continue to look for the right opportunities for Yancoal where we can add value for our shareholders.
Some further questions from the floor before we move to the webcast?
Come on over.
The ratio of franking credits to shares on issue.
AUD 2 a share or something, is it?
Kevin, any?
Let me just clarify the question. You want to understand the quantum currently we're holding for the franking credit, right?
Just me. I haven't been to the Hong Kong races for a while.
Okay. So for the franking credit to Hong Kong?
Per share.
Per share.
I t looks like it's AUD 2 franking credit per share.
Yeah. Okay. To explain the Hong Kong exchange and the ESS, there's a difference as franking credit cannot be used directly by Hong Kong investors, just technically. There's no double tax treaty between Hong Kong and Australia, unfortunately. As a result, there's something we can say positively is the 30% franking can be used to offset the 30% withholding tax for dividend. As such, if previously you received AUD 1 dividend, you may receive AUD 0.17 in Hong Kong.
As of today, because we fully frank all dividends, you receive the full AUD 1. Hopefully this easy case can explain this well. You no longer suffer the Hong Kong withholding tax issue due to the franking credit we have. Thanks.
Thank you.
Hello.
My name is Ritaj Abdullah, and I'm speaking as a proxy to Mr. Anthony Richard Pollock. I'm 18 years old, and as a young person, I represent a generation that will live with the long-term consequences of climate change and the climate decisions made today. I'm here because we need to have an honest conversation about transitioning to a future that both safeguards our communities and our planet. Board, my question is about the proposed Moolarben OC3 expansion.
When is the Board anticipating the proposal will go to an IPC hearing, considering the delays since the original proposal was put forward to the Department of Planning? With so much public opposition on the grounds of environmental and social concerns, so much opposition from locals, and so much concern from National Parks, New South Wales, and the State Department of Environment, can shareholders expect operations to start in 2025 at all?
I'll ask Mr. Jacobs to respond.
I can respond to that question. We've been going through a series of discussions with the Department of Planning and all of the other associated agencies. Excuse me. As you would probably be aware, the department has engaged the independent expert advisory panel on mines to opine on a couple of specific environmental impact issues. We're in the process of responding to that report.
Our expectation is that we'll be able to provide our response to the department probably towards the end of June of this year. The department's then got a complete assessment process prior to referring the project to the Independent Planning Commission. I wouldn't preempt whether the Independent Planning Commission will approve or refuse the project, but on the assumption that it does approve the project, it will then still require approval under the Federal EPBC Act. There is no plan that that will commence this in 2025. If it is approved at all, it'll be 2026 or beyond.
Just probably to add to that, this approval will take a long time. I think as a Board, we actually considered this three years ago. It is important for us as the Yancoal, but I think it's also important for the people of Mudgee as well.
We employ about 900 people up there and support the local area. The economic benefits provided by the Moolarben mine are in the over AUD 1 billion per annum. It is a big benefit provided not only to Mudgee, but to people of New South Wales and people of Australia. Probably the other thing for me is every time I go to any of our mine sites, and particularly Moolarben, I'm always proud as to the work we do in looking after regenerating forests, the flora, the fauna. We have some great people just focused on that. I'm always basically proud of what we're doing there. Other questions?
Thank you very much. My name's Anna Russell, and I'm an appointee of Mr. Lawrence Edward Ward and Dr. Carolyn Frances Orr.
I'm a volunteer with the Nature Conservation Council, and I've been a visual artist for decades, very concerned about environmental issues, and particularly for the extinctions and the erosion of habitat. From what I... Expansions are actually happening. These include severe impacts on the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater and a critical breeding important, given the diseases and erosions. The National Parks and Department of Environment expressed serious concerns about irreversible impact to multiple threatened species, even after the proposed amendments. Do you honestly believe the New South Wales government should ignore its own biodiversity experts just to let you dig more coal? Are you prepared to take responsibility for the public by pushing these species closer to extinction?
Thank you very much for that. I can hear the passion. We're also passionate about doing the right thing. We work within the legal framework.
We have detailed plans in terms of protecting fauna, flora, and we do some great work in terms of regeneration. From my point of view, we're just temporary custodians of the land. We generally restore the land in a better position than when we had it, when we acquired it. For me, and I think Yancoal, we're very comfortable working within the legal framework as to what we're doing and the benefits we're providing, as I said before, to the local communities, to the New South Wales people, and also the Australian people.
Thanks for the answer. Do you mind if I ask another question?
Because I can see the three of you have similar questions, maybe after this meeting, I'll get you to talk with some of the management team where you can explore those views that you have further with us.
Okay.
Thank you.
All I just want to say is that I can't see why two areas of government would be so concerned about these issues when, in fact, you believe that you're working within their guidelines.
How about we talk outside the AGM with their management team? Thank you for your thoughts. Are there any further questions?
I have one question coming through on the webcast, and for the benefit of those listening via the webcast, be quick and submit questions. Otherwise, there might not be the opportunity. Mr. Fletcher, this question comes from Jared Champion. It's similar in nature to some of the questions we already asked, so perhaps we can link back to earlier answers. Mr. Champion says, "I note that since Yancoal was unsuccessful in purchasing a metallurgical coal mine, payment of dividends was resumed.
A collateral effect of this was a wildly swinging share price. What is Yancoal's strategy moving forward? Continuing to pay dividends or retaining funds for an acquisition or both?
Thanks, [Brandon]. I think I have answered that question before in terms of come the half year, the year we'll review the dividend position. I don't think I've got anything really further to add to what's already been said.
Thank you. That concludes all the questions on the webcast.
Thank you. In accordance with Rules 7.7(d)(1) of the company's constitution, as Chairman of the meeting, I request that each of the resolutions is decided by poll and declare voting on all resolutions is now open. The results of the polls will be calculated with the assistance of Computershare acting as the scrutineer.
If you are entitled to vote, the reverse of your blue admission card is your voting paper and instructions. Please record your vote for each poll by placing a mark in the appropriate for or against box on each card you are holding. The sum of the votes cast for and against each resolution must not exceed your voting entitlement. If you are a proxy holder, you should have a card and a summary of votes for each shareholder that you are representing as their proxy. If a proxy holder has been directed to vote in a particular manner, then the proxy holder will be deemed to have voted per those instructions by completing the voting card. In respect of any open votes proxy holder may be entitled to cast, you need to mark a box beside the motion to indicate how you wish to cast your open votes.
If you have a query concerning any of the polls, please raise your hand, and a member from Computershare will assist you.
Just quickly go to the front of the room.
Thank you. Okay. Any more? Just a couple more.
Okay. One more? Okay.
All cards collected. Thank you. I now declare the poll closed. The results of the poll will not be known until after the meeting has closed. The results of the poll will be announced to the ASX and Hong Kong Exchange later today. Having completed all items on the agenda, I now announce the formal proceedings of today's annual general meeting closed. We'd like to thank those in attendance today for calling in to today's annual general meeting for Yancoal Australia. And for those in attendance, thank you very much for attending. Thank you.