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The Albanese government has approved the expansion of a Queensland<\/a> coalmine that will clear habitat for threatened koalas and greater gliders and add further fuel to the climate crisis, conservationists say.<\/p>\n The extension of the Middlemount mine in Queensland\u2019s Bowen Basin \u2013 jointly owned by US company Peabody and China-owned Yancoal \u2013 would see about 85m tonnes of coal exported over 24 years.<\/p>\n Conservationists estimated that burning the coal overseas to make steel or electricity would release about 236m tonnes of CO2 over the project\u2019s lifetime \u2013 the equivalent of almost half of Australia\u2019s current annual footprint.<\/p>\n About 81 hectares (200 acres) of greater glider habitat and 183 hectares of koala habitat was approved for clearing. Company documents show a 1,557 hectare site has been identified as an area to be secured to \u201coffset\u201d the clearing.<\/p>\n