A judiciary body recommended a new fossil fuel development in Queensland’s Wide Bay region.
Brisbane’s Supreme Court recently approved Fox Resources’ $200 million Bundaberg Coal Project, 8km northwest of the Rum City.
“[The] judge ruled in favour of Fox’s application to overturn the Queensland minister of resources’ decision not to grant mineral development licence application MDLA3040 to Fox,” company secretary Bruce Garlick said in a public statement.
The stay order means the proponent is one step closer to extracting up to 286M tonnes of hard coking coal. The site is near the existing East Coast railway line, allowing “easy” access to the Port of Gladstone. A new power generation facility will be required.
About 200 jobs are expected to be created with local suppliers promised to share in a combined $45M of capital expenditure. The mine is touted to operate for 20 years.
“We will continue to conduct all borehole drilling in accordance with the Queensland Government regulations and, by using local drillers and local geologists/hydrologists, we will ensure that this continues. In the future subject to various approvals the project may become an underground coking coal mine,” Garlick said.
State Member for Bundaberg Tom Smith revealed the project still needs final approval and faces strong community opposition.
“The stay order provided by the court last Friday is not a green light for Fox,” he said on Facebook.
“Fox Resources’ proposal really is a contender for the most locally unpopular coal mine in Australian history,” Lock the Gate Alliance Queensland co-ordinator Ellie Smith added according to News Limited.
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