The Queensland government has cleared the expansion of an Anglo American steelmaking coal mine, near Middlemount, Resources Minister Scott Stewart said on Thursday.
The government issued Anglo a mining lease for the Lake Lindsay extension, which will produce 5.6-million tonnes of steelmaking coal for export markets.
The Lake Lindsay mine is located within Anglo American’s Capcoal mining complex and currently produces about four-million run-of-mine tonnes a year. The extension is a natural progressing of the neighbouring opencut mine.
“The granting of this mining lease shows Queensland’s resources industry continues to go from strength to strength,” said Stewart.
“It shows there is confidence from major mining companies that are investing in the future of Queensland’s resources industry into the future.”
Steelmaking coal is one of Queensland’s biggest export earners, worth nearly C$60-billion in the 12 months to May this year.