WARATAH COAL INC COM NPV (WCI)

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA--(Marketwire - September 05, 2008) - Waratah Coal
(TSX VENTURE: WCI) (Waratah) advises that the Federal Minister for
Environment Peter Garrett this afternoon has acted under Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Act (EPBC Act) to reject Waratah's
proposal to establish a rail line and coal port in the Shoalwater Bay
military training area on the basis that the Minister has purported
to rule that the proposal is unacceptable.

Having received the recognition of the Queensland Government for its
proposal, Waratah is extremely disappointed with the decision by the
Environment Minister Peter Garrett today to declare Waratah's Galilee
Basin Project as unacceptable under the EPBC Act. On 15th July 2008
the Queensland Government declared the project to be a project of
State Significance. This proposal, at current contract prices would
have potentially generated over A$10B of export revenue and over
A$900M royalties per year for the State of Queensland.

Waratah considers that the Minister for Environment has exceeded his
authority in dealing with Waratah's proposal in the manner he has and
believes the decision is wrong in law, and not in the National
interest. Waratah does not believe that the proposal has been
properly considered or its impacts properly assessed. Waratah
considers that its proposal should have been afforded the opportunity
of scrutiny under a properly directed and formatted Environmental
Impact Study and its economic significance properly assessed.

Waratah intends to proceed with an immediate challenge to the
Minister's decision in the Federal Court of Australia.


The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.


Contacts:
Waratah Coal Inc.
Peter Lynch
President & CEO
+61 (0) 7 3303 0692
Email: plynch@waratahcoal.com
Website: www.waratah.com





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