Indian mining group Adani has announced that it planned to start extracting coal from the US$16.5bn Carmichael coal project in Australia in 2020-2021. The final investment decision is due by June 2017 and construction should start in the third quarter of 2017, after years of delays over environmental approval. The controversial Carmichael project is estimated to hold 10 Gt of coal reserves and should produce 60 Mt/year of thermal coal from six open-cut pits and five underground mines. In a first phase worth more than US$4bn, Adani plans to produce 25 Mt/year of coal.
The Carmichael project was proposed in 2010. Adani initially planned to complete the approval process in two to three years but final approval was only granted in 2016. The mine project was approved by the Queensland government in May 2014 and by the Australian government in July 2014. The federal environment minister re-issued the environmental approval in October 2015 and the Environment Department of the Queensland government (Australia) gave its final environmental approval in February 2016 but a series of legal challenges by environmental groups against the project have delayed the project. In late August 2016, the Federal Court dismissed the Australian Conservation Foundation’s claim against the project and found that the approval decision by the government was lawful.
In addition to the coal mine, Adani plans to develop 1,500 MW of solar power projects in Australia by 2022 and has signed agreements for two 100-200 MW solar projects in Queensland and South Australia.