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PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Queensland Resource Council (QRC) has welcomed a ruling by the Queensland Land Court that recommended that a mining lease and environmental authority should be issued to the Kevin’s Corner coal mine, in the Galilee basin, subject to the original draft conditions.
A number of environmental groups applied to the Land Court to stop the development of the proposed $4.2-billion mine, citing concerns about the project’s groundwater use.
However, the Land Court on Tuesday recommended that the mining lease should be granted and an environmental authority issued, subject to the 2013 draft conditions imposed by the Coordinator General, which include conditions relating to the effective rehabilitation of the project site, conditions on the construction and operation of the project, and recommendations on monitoring the project.
The QRC said on Tuesday that the court’s findings recognised that the Queensland and commonwealth impact assessment frameworks for resource projects were “rigorous and appropriate”. CEO Ian Macfarlane slammed the attempt by green activists for trying to derail the mine after it had passed through processes administered by state and federal governments.
The proposed Kevin’s Corner mine, being developed by Indian conglomerate GVK, will produce an estimated 30-million tonnes of thermal coal a year, over a 30-year life-of-mine. The underground and opencut operation will be located 65 km north-west of the proposed Alpha coal mine, which Hancock and the GVK are developing.
The project is expected to result in some 1 800 construction jobs and a further 1 600 operational jobs, providing the state government with some A$168-million a year in royalties.