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Ferguson was in India last week as part of his Asian tour, and spoke to the Australia India Business Council Dinner about India’s increased investment interests in Australia’s large-scale coal developments.
On the cards was Adani Group subsidiary Adani Mining’s proposed 60 million tonne Carmichael mine located about 100 kilometres north of Emerald, which could have a 100-year mine life.
Final terms of reference for an environmental impact study for the Carmichael coal and rail project have been released.
The EIS will assess the potential environmental and cultural impacts of the proposed mine.
Mining is expected to consist of six pits of combined open cut and underground workings to produce up to 10Mtpa each over a stretch of land 45 kilometres long.
The Carmichael coal mine and rail project involves developing a greenfield open cut coal mine and an underground coal mine in the Galilee Basin, supported by rail facilities which could connect to the Abbot Point Coal Terminal.
The mine and rail project is estimated to cost more than $10 billion.
Ferguson said the mine would mostly produce exports for India as the country sought reliable supplies to maintain its energy security.
He said the Carmichael project would be the largest investment ever made by an Indian company in Australia.
“In Queensland the Adani Mining Group’s Abbot Point Coal Terminal is worth $1.8 billion, that’s on top of its $7 billion Carmichael rail, port and coal mine project,” Ferguson said.
“It’s a truly exciting project.
“When fully developed the Carmichael coal mine will be the largest coal mine in Australia,” he said.
India is already heavily reliant on coal for its energy supplies and is Australia’s second-largest market for metallurgical coal.
However, Ferguson said India’s appetite to develop Australian coal would not jeopardise other coal exports to the country but would enhance the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
“Australia is a natural partner to meet India’s future energy needs,” Ferguson said.
The Galilee Basin is the last undeveloped coal resource in Queensland and is tipped to become the state’s largest coal producing region.
