Heavily featured in the news of late has been the proposal for the construction of the giant Adani Carmichael mine in the Queensland Galilee Basin. There has been a lot of media attention as proponents and naysayers fight it out in a war of words. Each side have their own valid points and present formidable arguments for and against.

However, with the Queensland government having given the green light and rail construction contracts awarded, the mega-mine in Queensland looks to be finally getting off the drawing board. Recently iMINCO ran a news story about the $3 billion rail construction contract being awarded to Korean engineering giants Posco. This rail link, which will be some 388km long will connect the Carmichael mine to the ship loading facilities at Abbot Point.

Construction of the rail line could be quite timely as workers from the Bechtel LNG construction project look for new contracts owing to the pending completion of the 3 LNG production facilities. There is estimated to be around 2400 jobs going when construction of the rail link to the Carmichael mine commences.

For those who are unaware of the Carmichael mine project in the Galilee Basin, here are a few facts.

• Adani Mining Pty Ltd is proposing to develop a 60Mtpa thermal coal mine in Queensland.
• A 388km rail line is to be constructed connecting to an existing rail network.
• Around 1700+ construction jobs will be created at the mine.
• About 4000 permanent workers are expected to be employed at the mine.
• It’s expected there will be six open-cut pits and five underground mines.
• Five mine infrastructure areas and a heavy industrial area.
• Off-site infrastructure will be constructed, including workers’ accommodation village and even an airport
• The Carmichael Coal Mine is expected to be in operation for around 90 years.
• The Carmichael mine when fully operational will be one of the biggest mines in the world.
• The mine is situated in the north Galilee Basin approximately 160km northwest of the town of Clermont.
• Coal will be transported by rail on a privately-owned rail line connecting to the existing Aurizon rail infrastructure at Moranbah.
• The rail line will be capable of transporting 100 million tonnes of coal each year, although 60 million tonnes has been slated for production.
• The coal will be shipped through coal terminal facilities at Abbot Point and the Port of Hay Point.
• The Carmichael mine is hoped to contribute $930 million to the Mackay region`s GDP.
• The Queensland economy is also expecting around $2.97 billion injected back into it for the next 60 years.
• Adani must contribute $100,000 each year for 10 years towards a biodiversity fund.

The Queensland government are excited at the prospect of permanent mining jobs returning to the state. Their enthusiasm is hoping to reach the management offices of Adani in India in the hope early construction of the mine accommodation camp could be on the cards.

In 2013, the Premier of Queensland Campbell Newman and Martin Ferguson, journeyed to India to meet in person with Mr. Gutham Adani, who is the chairman of the company. This was the start of serious negotiations between India and Queensland. Mr Newman indicated that he has strong indications that Adani would use a local Queensland workforce to run the mine.

The Queensland government has also stated they are not too keen on a 100 per cent FIFO army and there will be a wide range of people on the ground as well as other operational staff based in other parts of the state.

The Carmichael coal mine and rail project is estimated to be worth a total of around $16.5 billion.