Even though the state Land Court had ruled last year that the mine complex should be approved with strict water management conditions or not at all, green group Coast and Country appealed that decision to the Supreme Court saying the Land Court did not have the right to issue two alternative recommendations and should have rejected the mine outright.

A GVK spokesman Josh Euler said: “We are pleased the court has clearly ruled that our project has continued to follow and comply with all regulatory and legal processes.”

Queensland Resource Council CEO Michael Roche said his organisation launched a campaign that was designed to raise public awareness about “the real motivation of the green activists in cynically exploiting legal loopholes in state and federal legislation to stop resource projects”

“We see the evidence of these delaying tactics today with the Supreme Court judgement rejecting the appeals against GVK Hancock’s Alpha Coal Project put forward by EDO Queensland on behalf of green activist group Coast and Country Association,” Roche said.

“Despite the rigorous approvals process and the ample time for affected communities to have their say on projects, the green activists will use every delaying trick in the book in the hope of making the project fall over at a cost not only to the companies involved but costing jobs for Queenslanders.”