PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The proposed A$10-billion Alpha coal project being developed by Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and joint venture partner GVK is facing a court challenge.
A farmers and a community group, Coast and Country Association of Queensland, is challenging the project in the Queensland Land Court on Monday, claiming it would irreversibly damage the environment and would contribute to climate change.
Farmers in the area also raised concerns about the project’s impact on the local water sources.
The Alpha coal mine will produce 32-million tonnes a year from an opencut operation over 30 years. The project holds a combined resource of eight-billion tonnes, and at peak capacity could produce 80-million tonnes a year.
Apart from the opencut mine, the project development also included a proposed railway line between the mine and the Abbot Point port.
The US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis has previously labelled the project uneconomical, saying it offered investors “unacceptable risk”.