A MASSIVE mine part-owned by billionaire Gina Rinehart in central Queensland is one step closer, after the Newman government today announced its approval for the $6.4 billion Alpha Coal project.
The approval is the first for a coal mine in the Galilee Basin, but the project still needs environmental approval from the federal government.
The open-cut mine, expected to be one of the biggest coal mines in Australia, will extract 30 million tonnes annually for 30 years.
If federal approvals are granted, construction could start next year, with an operational start from 2016.
While the project has space allocated at Abbot Point, it also needs approval for a rail corridor linking the port with the Galilee Basin, 200kms further inland from the existing coal mining area of the Bowen Basin.
Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting was the original developer of the mine, but last year it sold 79 per cent of its interests in the proposed Alpha coal mine in the Galilee Basin, 100 per cent of another mine, Kevin's Corner, and rail and port infrastructure, to Indian company GVK Coal for $1.2 billion.
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The Australian
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