Infrastructure major GVK Group on Friday said that the federal government of Australia issued environmental clearance for its Kevin’s Corner Project in Queensland. According to GVK Reddy, CMD, GVK, construction is expected to start in 2015 with first coal likely to be produced in 2018.
“This approval comes as a major milestone towards our goal of becoming the premier and most reliable coal supplier to the world,” he said in a statement.
The project proposes to set up a 30 million tonne per annum (mtpa) underground and open-cut coal mine and other associated infrastructure and will rely on the railway infrastructure of the adjacent Alpha Coal project to transport coal to the Port of Abbot Point, Bowen.
It may be noted that GVK had acquired 100 per cent stake the project from Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd and a 79 per cent stake in the Alpha Coal and Alpha West Coal projects in late 2011.
When combined, the Galilee Basin projects will create one of the largest coal mining operations in the world holding total resources of 8 billion tonne and a peak capacity of about 80 million tonne per annum.
The projects also represents a total investment of about $42 billion in tax and royalties to the Queensland and Federal governments over the life of the projects.
In March, 2013, GVK Coal Infrastructure (Sinagpore) Pte Ltd (GVK Hancock) and Aurizon signed a non-binding term sheet to jointly progress the development of rail and port infrastructure to unlock Galilee Basin coal reserves including GVK Hancock’s Alpha, Kevin’s Corner and Alpha West coal mines and a process to support the next phase of coal growth in the Bowen basin.
In May, 2012 GVK’s Alpha Coal project received key environmental approval from Queensland government for Alpha Coal and Rail project in Queensland. Later in August, 2012, GVK’s Alpha Coal project gained Federal government approval under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999 (EPBC) followed by an approval from the Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke to construct and operate the Alpha Coal Mine and a railway line between the mine and the port at Abbot Point, near Bowen.