The Queensland Coordinator-Genera has declared potentially the largest coal project in Australian history a ‘significant project’, requiring it to undergo a rigorous environmental impact assessment.

Making the declaration, Colin Jensen said Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd was proposing to establish an open-cut coal mine with an initial export capacity of 30 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa).

The mine would be located in the Galilee Basin in Central Queensland, about 360 km south west of Mackay.

The $7.5 billion Alpha Coal Project would comprise the mine and associated infrastructure and utilities; the potential construction of a new 400 km-plus rail line; and a port and coal handling terminal with the potential to expand to 80 Mtpa or more.

The port and coal handling terminal would be situated either at an expanded port at Abbot Point or—124 km closer—a new port at a Ports Corporation of Queensland-owned site at Dudgeon Point, south of Mackay.

Hancock proposes to either build a new rail track from the mine to the preferred port or—with the exception of about 100 km of new track—rely mostly on Queensland Rail’s system, parts of which will be expanded.

The proposed rail and port facilities would have enough spare capacity for third-party access, enabling them to be used by other potential mines in the Galilee and Bowen basins.

Hancock’s mine would require a water supply of 11,000 megalitres a year, which would be sourced from a combination of groundwater and a proposed pipeline from the Burdekin Dam.

Located 50 km north of Alpha, the nearest population centre, the mine would be a fly-in, fly-out operation, with staff accommodated in an ‘eco village’ just north of the mine site.

Hancock proposes to build an aerodrome with a runway big enough to handle 100-passenger jet aircraft.

The company’s Galilee Basin leases contain over 300 Mt of measured coal resources. Hancock has set itself a target of 800 Mt of measured coal resources by the end of this year, complementing an estimated 3000 Mt of indicated and inferred resources.

“The proposed mine, construction of which would begin in mid- to late-2010, aims to start exporting coal in 2013 and would have an expected minimum life of 30 years,” Mr Jensen said.

“The project has the potential to create 2500 jobs during peak construction and a further 1600 jobs at full production.

“After considering the project’s scale, complexity and potential environmental and economic impacts, I have declared it to be significant.

“It’s important for the public to know that a ‘significant project’ declaration is not an indication of approval of, or support for, a project.

“Rather it is a recognition of the significant complexity of a project—the substantial benefits it may bring and the need to carefully assess its impacts and how they could be mitigated if the project was approved to proceed.

“It also means the proponent will be able to access the Department of Infrastructure and Planning’s project management and cross-government approvals process coordination.

“The first opportunity for the public to have their say will be when the draft terms of reference for the environmental impact statement (EIS) are released.

“The second and more significant opportunity for public comment will occur when the EIS is released.”

The Galilee Basin is located west of the Bowen Basin and contains large resources of thermal coal. The shallowest parts of the basin—suitable for open-cut mining— extend from Pentland to Jericho and south-east to Rolleston.

The basin’s relatively remote location and corresponding lack of infrastructure have precluded large-scale coal mining to date.

However, strong world demand and record high prices for thermal coal have made the development of the basin’s coal deposits much more attractive.

In 2008–09 the value of Australia’s thermal coal exports is forecast to increase by 74 per cent to $15.9 billion.

Further information can be found on the Alpha Coal project page .