Uncertainty Over Queensland Mine After Election Shock

[icyfroth]

Adani group's Galilee Basin Carmichael mine project 'not viable', Indian opposition says - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Indian opposition MPs have raised concerns about using state funds to bankroll the Adani Group's Carmichael mine project in western Queensland, which they say is not viable.

During Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's maiden visit to Australia last month, Adani signed a MOU with the State Bank of India (SBI) for a $1 billion loan to fund the project in Queensland's Galilee Basin.

The Adani Group's Carmichael mine, rail and port project is worth about $16 billion and promises to create tens of thousands of jobs in Queensland's west.

But economic analysts said the project would only be viable if coal was at $100 a tonne - currently it is worth about $70 and showing no sign of rising.

Indian opposition MP Derek O'Brien raised the issue in the upper house of India's parliament last week, saying at least five international banks had refused to fund the project.

"Our understanding is these banks refused the loan, so our serious concern is why a $1 billion loan was given by SBI, knowing full well that these five banks have refused," he said.

The Adani Group believes the project is viable and wants it up and running by 2017, but India's coal minister said last month he hoped to stop imports of thermal coal within three years as domestic production stepped up.

"Two thirds of the produce of Carmichael will be imported back into India, so one of them is not talking the truth, speaking the truth. Because if India wants to reduce imports and two thirds of the capacity from the Australian mine is going to be imported back into India, it just doesn't add up," Mr O'Brien said.

Entire Article Here

And:

It was the Newman government's great hope for Queensland's economy: a proposal for Australia's biggest coal development, unprecedented in scale.

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's mammoth Carmichael mine, in central Queensland, is pledged to bring with it 10,000 jobs and $22 billion in taxes and royalties.

Undoubtedly this is a project of national significance.

It promises to open the vast inland Galilee Basin. To allow that to happen there is a need for a new coal rail line, hundreds of kilometres long, from the mine to Abbot Point Port north of Mackay.

There an already-substantial coal terminal will be expanded to handle Carmichael's huge output.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/uncertainty-over-massive-queensland-mine-after-election-shock-and-con...

[debra9275]

i hope they don't go ahead, but this what they said a week ago

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/02/adani-says-16bn-carmichael-mine-to-go-ahead-ev...

Adani says $16bn Carmichael mine to go ahead even if Labor cuts taxpayer funds

Indian mining firm Adani has insisted the construction of Australia’s largest mine will go ahead, despite the prospect of a Labor government in Queensland that has committed to removing taxpayer support for the project.

Adani’s huge $16bn Carmichael mine in the Galilee basin region of central Queensland was promised taxpayer funds by the previous LNP state government for the 300km rail line it will use to take coal to the Abbot Point port, near the town of Bowen.

However, the Labor party, which is on the brink of forming government in Queensland following Saturday’s shock election outcome, has pledged not to put up the estimated $300m to $450m for the proposed “short term stake” in the rail line.

Labor has also said it will not fund the dredging of seabed sediment to expand Abbot Point unless Adani shows the project is financially viable