PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Future coal mines in Queensland are expected to benefit from federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt’s December decision to approve the revised expansion plans for the Abbot Point coal terminal.

The proposed expansion will add 70-million tonnes a year to Abbot Point’s capacity of 50-million tonnes a year and will cater for additional coal from the Galilee basin, including Adani Mining’s proposed Carmichael mine.

Queensland Minister for State Development and Natural Resources and Mines, Anthony Lynham, has welcomed the decision, saying that the expansion approval will allow the port to be developed if one or more of the proposed Galilee basin coal mine projects proceed.

“The approval is another milestone towards realising the jobs and economic benefits that developing the Galilee basin could bring to Queensland, while continuing to protect the Great Barrier Reef,” he said in a December statement.

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has pointed out that Hunt’s approval of the Abbot Point expansion is subject to a number of strict conditions, which follow on an extensive public consultation process, and align with the Reef2015 plan to ensure the protection of the Great Barrier Reef.

“The expansion of the Port of Abbot Point is vital if Australia is to become the world’s leading coal exporter by 2020,” said QRC CEO Michael Roche.

“Of course increased exports means higher coal royalties and tax payments, which will continue to pay for important services, such as police, teachers, doctors and nurses, and infrastructure such as roads and hospitals.”

Roche has also pointed out that Queensland taxpayers will not foot the bill associated with approvals or the necessary expansion work at Abbot Point, but that this will be met by coal mine proponents.

The revised expansion project will result in the dredging of about 1.1-million cubic meters of material, which will be placed onshore and reused, rather than being dumped at sea. Dredge spoil is to be placed at a site known as T2, which is adjacent to the existing coal terminal. The dredging will not negatively affect the Caley Valley wetlands or the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

Despite the positive development, Roche has warned that green activists are likely to do everything in their power to halt the expansion of the mine.

“We have little doubt that vexatious green activists will do everything they can to again disrupt and delay the Abbot Point project. They have launched legal appeals against this port approval three times already and I’m sure they will use the courts if they can to delay it yet again.”

The Minerals Council of Australia has called on anti-coal activists to respect Hunt’s decision, saying that most of the coal exported through the port will be used in clean and efficient power stations in Asia where more than 1 000 high efficiency, low emission generating units are under construction.