Updated
Indian energy giant Adani has announced its
Carmichael mine and rail project in central Queensland will go ahead —
and will be 100 per cent self-financed.
Key points:
- Adani says in statement it has finance and is "ready to start"
- The announcement comes after environmental groups pressured banks not to lend money to the project
- Mining lobby group welcomes news, says the economy will benefit from thousands of new jobs
The controversial mine in the Galilee Basin has been scaled back significantly from earlier plans, following years of legal and environmental disputes.
Adani Mining chief executive officer Lucas Dow said the mine would initially begin on a small scale and "ramp up" to a capacity of 27.5 million tonnes a year — less than half the size of the approved project.
"We have finance and we are ready to start," Mr Dow said.
"We will now begin developing a smaller open-cut mine comparable to many other Queensland coal mines and will ramp up production over time."
The announcement of self-funding comes after environmental groups pressured banks in Australia and overseas not to lend money to the project.
Mining lobby group the Minerals Council of Australia welcomed the news, saying it would provide an economic boost.
"The Queensland and Australian economies will benefit from thousands of new regional jobs and long-term investment in the mine and rail infrastructure," the council's CEO Tania Constable in a statement.
Ms Constable also noted the mine's construction could open up the Galilee Basin to further coal development, which was something environmentalists were most afraid of.
The federal Resources Minister, Matt Canavan, congratulated the company on its "focus and commitment to the project".
"The Carmichael project has the potential to create more than 7,000 new jobs in Queensland — a remarkable contribution to our regional and state economies," he said.
'Burning coal from Adani mine … will be damaging for our climate'
Australian Conservation Foundation CEO Kelly O'Shanassy said: "Make no mistake. Many on both sides of politics understand burning the coal from the Adani mine and the broader Galilee Basin will be terribly damaging for our climate."Ms O'Shanassy also said the announcement did not necessarily mean the mine would go ahead.
"There are numerous regulatory hurdles, approvals and management plans to clear. Adani still needs to sign contracts, secure access to rail lines and unacceptably move to extinguish native title," she said.
"Adani remains under investigation from the Queensland Government for allegedly sinking illegal bore holes into groundwater aquifers.
"And Adani is being taken to court by the Government for polluting the Great Barrier Reef with polluted coal water."
Julien Vincent, executive director of financial activist group Market Forces, said the announcement of the financing was "highly questionable".
"Financial close is what happens when everything is in place," Mr Vincent said.
"This is a project that still doesn't have all of its approvals.
"Its claims of an Indigenous Land Use Agreement are being challenged in the High Court, there's a 200-kilometre gap with no rail line, no-one on the hook to build it, and no guarantee of access to the existing rail network at the other end."
The federal Greens also said there was still a chance the mine and rail project would be blocked.
Senator Larissa Waters said Adani needed to submit its water and biodiversity management plans.
"Adani's approval could be reviewed and revoked because we know what a dire state the climate is in," she said.
"The IPCC has just handed down its latest report and that could legally be considered new information that could trigger a reconsideration of Adani's environmental approval."
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