The Land Court of Queensland in Australia on Wednesday recommended that the Adani Group’s planned Carmichael mine should proceed, subject to additional conditions.
The conditions recommended prior to the granting of a mining lease add to some of the strictest conditions ever handed down for a project of its kind in Queensland, and the strictest-ever handed down for a project under federal law.
This significant decision recognises the thorough, science and evidence-based work that the Adani Group and its partners have undertaken over more than five years to demonstrate the company’s commitment to complying with both Queensland and Australia’s world’s best practice environmental protections, according to a company statement here.
“Adani welcomes the decision, which recognises the pivotal role the resources sector plays in Queensland, subject to strict regulations. Equally, the company welcomes the decision as yet another repudiation of politically motivated, activist-driven legal challenges, which only serve to deny the benefits of jobs and investment to Queensland and to Australia.”
The Carmichael mine is central to the Adanis’ plans to deliver 10,000 direct and indirect jobs across its mine, rail and port projects, and $22 billion in taxes and royalties to Queensland over the half-life of the projects.
The high calorific value coal to be mined at Carmichael also has an ideal ash and sulphur content for use in the latest generation supercritical generators in India, which are significantly more efficient than those typically operating in Australia, helping to deliver more energy with less coal, and fewer emissions.
Importantly, the Adanis have consistently said that these significant benefits for Queensland and for Australia, reflecting the confidence the company has in these jurisdictions as a secure source of low-cost, high quality energy, were to be gained across all three projects, while the Land Court was only considering the benefits of the mine across individual stages of the mine’s life in isolation, the Ahmedabad-based Group said.
The Adanis said for many months that what is required for projects such as these to proceed is certainty. While additional “activist-led” challenges to detailed, thorough, independent and science-based approvals loom, today’s Land Court decision is overwhelmingly a positive for Adani, and a step in the right direction for jobs in Queensland and exports from our state, the statement added.