New Clermont mine shows long term faith in Queensland’s coal industry

9 January 2006

Queensland’s booming coal industry has received another major boost in investment and confidence with today’s announcement of a new $950 million thermal coal mine near Clermont in Central Queensland.

Acting Premier Anna Bligh said the new mine to be constructed by Rio Tinto and its joint venture partners Mitsubishi Development, J-Power Australia and JCD Australia Pty Ltd meant more jobs, more export dollars, and more wealth for Queensland.

“The new Clermont Coal Mine will replace the current mine at Blair Athol which will wind down between 2009-11,” Ms Bligh said.

“It will be one of the largest coal mines in Queensland and produce about 12 million tonnes of export coal a year.

“The open cut mine will operate for about 17 years, based on proven coal reserves of around 190 million tonnes. This new mine will create up to 400 jobs during the construction phase and 380 direct jobs during operation,” Ms Bligh said.

“This compares with 190 jobs at the existing mine at Blair Athol.

“The flow-on benefits will be enormous. It is estimated the project will support about 3,800 jobs throughout the State with the vast majority of them in the Mackay region.

“More importantly, this project will continue to sustain the Clermont community after the current mining at the nearby Blair Athol Mine winds down.

“The mine will provide substantial financial benefits to the State as it is expected to generate about $500 million gross a year and provide about $100 million a year to the State in royalties and rail freight charges, similar to the revenue generated by the Blair Athol mine.

“The coal industry helps underpin Queensland’s growth and prosperity. It generated almost $18 billion in exports during 2005-06 – up more than $6 billion on the previous year,” Ms Bligh said.

“Last year seven new mines opened in Queensland and there were major expansions at numerous other existing mines.

"So I welcome today’s announcement by Rio Tinto Coal Australia that construction work for the new Clermont mine would begin soon and keep the momentum rolling in 2007.”

Ms Bligh said the Clermont Coal Mine had been the subject of several feasibility studies since it was discovered more than 25 years ago.

“This has included assessment by the Coordinator-General of two different development proposals in 1983 and 2005”, she said.

“RTCA has worked closely with the State Government and nearby landholders to address concerns raised during the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process about the mine’s potential impact on groundwater and the mine will implement a rigorous water monitoring program and ensure landholders aren’t adversely affected.

“The EIS process also highlighted the need to re-align part of the Peak Downs Highway and Gregory Developmental Road, both State-controlled roads, with the Joint Venture agreeing to support this work.

“The company has also offered to work in partnership with government in up-grading local roads to off-set social and economic impacts to some local residents as a result of the highway diversion,” Ms Bligh said.

Editor’s note: Maps of the mine area are available by contacting the Acting Premier’s office - Steve Keating 3224 4370; John Algate 3224 5982