Climate change was supposed to have won the Labor Party the Australian election. But by the end of May, after having been routed by voters, its panicked leaders backed the mining a agreement of a coalfield bigger than the UK.
Fearing a wipe out in state elections next year amid a rise in pro-coal workers and a rebellion against its plans to halve Australia’s carbon emissions.
But now, the Labor state government in Queensland accelerated its decision on 105,000 square miles of coal-rich outback land known as the Galilee Basin.
However, MacMines Austasia has decided it will not move forward with developing the China Stone thermal coal project in the Galilee Basin in Queensland at this stage.
The Chinese company, a subsidiary of the Meijin Energy Group, did not provide a reason for the decision.
MacMines has advised Queensland’s Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (DNRME) that it was committed to converting the exploration authorities that underlie the area to a mining lease, and developing the coal deposit at a later date.
The project was only the fifth coal development in the Galilee Basin to receive an approval for its conditional environmental impact statement (EIS) at the time of receipt (November 2018).
It was forecast to produce around 38 million tonnes of thermal coal a year over a 50-year mine life.
With the future of China Stone project uncertain, around 3.900 potential jobs during construction and 3.400 jobs in the operations phase are also put on hold.
MacMines, which continues to hold an exploration permit for coal and a mineral development license, can apply for mining leases at any time in the future, the DNRME confirmed.
The Coordinator General’s approval is also still valid for the project. Meijin is China’s leading metallurgical coke producer and has interests across coal mining, steel manufacturing and clean energy production.
Australian Mining / ABC Flash Point News 2019.
