Coronado CEO Gerry Spindler said in the company's Sustainability Report that the mine was also looking at trapping fugitive emissions as a power source.

"As a business we want to grow and we recognise that this may also increase gross greenhouse gas emissions," he said.

"Similarly, moving to net zero emissions based on current technology is cost prohibitive for a company of our size at this point in time.

"We are evaluating a range of potential projects that could have a positive impact on our emissions profile including assessing options for a … solar farm and opportunities to harvest incidental coal seam gas [fugitive emissions - Scope 1] to either generate electric power on site at Curragh or to use as a partial replacement for diesel fuel."

Instead of setting targets for gross emissions or providing potentially unworkable timeframes for achieving net zero emissions, Coronado is focusing on emissions intensity on a per tonne of production basis and minimising Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

It plans to benchmark itself against its peer group.

"These initiatives are undoubtedly important," Spindler said.

"However, the immediate priority for Coronado and many other businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, is to look after our people, our communities and our customers as we navigate through these uncertain times."