14 DAY TRIAL // Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt has given the green light to major coal mining project proposed by Indian-Australian consortium GVK-Hancock.
Thus, a gigantic 37,380-hectare coal mine is expected to soon be up and running in central Queensland. The mine will be the largest of its kind ever established in Australia.
Information shared with the public says that costs for setting up this coal mine will amount to $4.2 billion (€3.11 billion).
According to Mining, construction activities are scheduled to begin in 2015.
The mine is estimated to have a lifespan of 30 years, during which it will produce some 30 million tonnes of thermal coal annually. The first tonnes of coal are expected to be produced as soon as 2018.
“The Kevin's Corner Project is an advanced coal project and has a mine life in excess of 30 years with a capacity to produce up to 30 million tonne per annum of export quality thermal coal,” GVK-Hancock argues in a press release.
The consortium also argues that, when taking into account the economic boom that this mine will surely trigger, it need not come as a surprise that the Australian federal government has agreed to approve it.
“Following a rigorous and thorough assessment process by two levels of government spanning five years, Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunter gave an approval decision to construct and operate the Kevin's Corner Coal Mine 50 kilometer north of the town of Alpha in Queensland.”
“In a timely and considered decision, the Minister finely balanced the protection of environment with the need for economic investment and job creation.”
Together with two other GVK-Hancock projects in the Galilee Basin, this coal mine is expected to lead to the development of the world's largest coal mining operations in said part of Australia.
“When combined, the Galilee Basin project will create one of the largest coal mining operations in the world holding total resources of 8 billion tonne and a peak capacity of around 80 million tonne per annum,” the consortium details.
As was to be expected, environmentalists did not take likely to the news that a massive coal mine is to be built in Queensland. Their main concerns are that the Kevin's Corner coal mine project will use up a lot of the local water resources (about 9 billion liters per year, according to Greenpeace) and will significantly up environmental pollution levels.