Central Queensland could be getting a new mine, with construction of the Meteor Downs South mine potentially in the books for the end of this year.
The project, located between Rolleston and Springsure in the Central Highlands, is a joint venture of U&D and Sojitz.
The project pending a suitable transport solution is found.
U&D Coal chief financial officer Peter Edwards said construction of the project cannot start until a suitable transport solution is found.
“Ideally we would transport the coal on rail loop that we build ourselves, but that solution would delay us by about a year and a half,” he said.
“We have to weigh up whether the delay is worth it, or whether we could make a reasonable return on a more expensive transport solution in the first instance.”
Sojitz CEO Cameron Vorias told a local newspaper a full engineering review on construction of a new rail loop off the Bauhinia line had been completed.
He said it would only take 15 months to build, with a four month construction period before first coal is mined.
More than 60 jobs would be created from the constructions phase, and a workforce of about 50 would remain during the first two years of operation.
The mine would have a 10-year lifespan, producing up to 1.5mtpa of thermal coal.
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