It has also sought an undertaking from the company that it would not take or interfere with groundwater until the challenge was decided.

But New Hope said it intended to keep going in its ramp-up of operations at the mine while it assessed and responded to the challenge.

It would be the fourth time the expansion project would have entered the court system that delayed approval and development of the stage three expansion for more than a decade.

New Hope chair Robert Milner said the company was hopeful that the State Government would intervene to prevent more legal action.

He said the Queensland Government had confirmed that New Acland Stage 3 stacked up environmentally, socially and financially and had praised the company for its focus on community and local employment and the community.

The associated water licence is an integral part of the approvals process because groundwater is a constant issue and the company needs a licence to move it from the pits.

The action comes just a week after the company finally cut the ribbon on the opening of the mine expansion project. That ceremony was attended by Queensland Resources Minister Scott Stewart.

OCAA secretary Paul King threatened to take further action and seek a stay to prevent the company from acting on its water licence if it continued to progress operations.

King called the groundwater “irreplacable” and said it sustained the Darling Downs region and must be protected at all costs.

“We are seeking to ensure that the impacts to precious groundwater posed by (the expansion) are finally, properly assessed,” King said.

“We have always said the Darling Downs is for farming, not coal mining and we have no intentions of backing down now.”

New Hope said that although the claim was against the Queensland Government it was also a respondent.

It has also filed an application in the Land Court to amend certain conditions in the associated water licence which it claimed were inconsistent with the terms of other approvals.

“New Acland Coal’s preference would have been to resolve any inconsistencies in approvals terms directly with the relevant Queensland Government departments, however, (we) will follow the Land Court processes in light of OCAA’s new legal challenge,” it said.

OCAA was being represented by the Environmental Defenders Office, which has been a thorn in the side of the expansion project for years.

EDO managing lawyer Revel Pointon said the Queensland Government made an error in law when it approved the associated water licence.

“We argue the groundwater impacts have still not been properly investigated and are so significant that this application to impact groundwater should have been refused,” Pointon said.

“It’s worth noting that one of the reasons the Land Court originally recommended refusal for this mine expansion was the potential impact to groundwater, and the implications of this on future generations.

“Due to a subsequent legal ruling from the Supreme Court on review, groundwater impacts were not able to be considered in the assessment of the environmental authority for this mine. This is an essential appeal to ensure that the proposed impacts of groundwater take are finally properly assessed.”

New Hope has yet to respond to the legal action.