The Alpha Coal Project is a coal mine and railway project in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. The development is expected to cost A$6.9 billion. Coal exports would leave the country via port facilities at Abbot Point after being transported along a 495 km rail line. The project is being jointly developed by the Indian conglomerate GVK and

Hancock Coal Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd is a leading Australian owned mining and agricultural business run by Executive Chairman Gina Rinehart and CEO Garry Korte. At stages of its trading, the company has been known as Hancock Prospecting Ltd, Hancock Reso ...

. Hancock holds a 21% interest in the project. The life of mine is expected to be 30 years. The mine is the first to be approved by both the

Government of Queensland The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy was form ...

and the Federal Government to be built in the Galilee Basin. State approval was granted on the 29 May 2012 and federal approval was granted on the 23 August 2012. According to GVK Hancock Coal managing director Paul Mulder, it is also the first fully integrated project to be built in Australia. The major benefit of this is that queues of ships waiting for cargo off-shore from the port can be avoided. The mine is to be built about 40 km northwest of the small town of

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...

in Central West Queensland. 4,000 staff are expected to be employed during construction with another 2,000 needed for on-going operations. The Minister for Environment Tony Burke has stipulated the project must adhere to 19 conditions aimed at protecting the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

. Peak production is expected to reach 80 million tonnes per year. The first coal production is planned to occur during the 2015/16 financial year. It is expected to deliver coal to ship at $55 a tonne. This is because ore at the mine is easy to mine and the terrain between the mine and port is relatively flat. A 2013

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

study forecast a coal price of at least $US90 to go forward and $150 to generate economic gains for the project. A slowing in demand from China was also cited as a concern which would influence the viability of the mine.

References

{{coord, -23.251, 146.455, format=dms, display=title Mines in Queensland Barcaldine Region Coal mines in Queensland

See also

References