The Environment Department of the Queensland government (Australia) has given its final environmental approval to the giant Carmichael coal mining project developed by Indian energy group Adani.
The A$16bn (US$12bn) project, developed by Indian group Adani Mining, was approved by the Queensland government in May 2014 and by the Australian government in July 2014. In August 2015, the Federal Court of Australia declared the approval of the Carmichael coal mine project in central Queensland invalid, over a bureaucratic bungle over two vulnerable species. In October 2015, the Federal Government of Australia re-approved the project, which still needs to prove its finances and gain a mining licence from the state for the site.
The controversial Carmichael project is estimated to hold 10 Gt of coal reserves and should produce 60 Mt/year of thermal coal. Coal production is expected to start in 2017, three years behind the original target.