Meanwhile, India’s Reliance Power has reportedly made the shortlist to buy Wesfarmers’ Premier coal mine near Collie.

In Perth to discuss impacts of carbon pricing at the Urban Development Institute of Australia conference, Sinanian told ILN he is forecasting carbon emissions to cost around $25-27/t under the Gillard government’s proposed scheme.

But he does suspect the BCA’s stance could have some impact, and that the price might be driven a few dollars below his forecast.

Ultimately he expects Western Australia will be relatively better off than other states because of its natural gas-fuelled power generation.

Wesfarmers could escape future carbon tax impacts in the state as it advances possible plans to sell the Premier mine, first flagged by the company in March, although Wesfarmers is also open to joint venture interest.

Reliance was believed to have made a shortlist for purchasing the mine according to a recent report in The Australian.

Wesfarmers received unsolicited expressions of interest in the open cut mine last year during the sales process for the distressed assets of Collie-based Griffin Coal.

Indian power generator Lanco Infratech completed its $750 million acquisition of Griffin’s coal assets in March.

Wesfarmers’ Premier mine produced about 2.8 million tonnes in 2010 and traditionally around 80% of this coal is used for the state’s power generation needs.

The nearby BHP Billiton-led Worsley Alumina joint venture uses about 13% for its alumina refinery.

Parsons undertook essential engineering and environmental work for Wesfarmers’ Curragh North expansion in Queensland.