Farmers accuse mining company Xstrata of� “land banking” on Queensland’s Darling Downs.
�Ten graziers from Wandoan, northwest of� Toowoomba took their fight against Xstrata`s proposed open-cut coal mine to the Queensland Land Court.
The company`s $6 billion proposal has received conditional approval from the state and federal governments.
The chain of coal pits is said to extract up to 100 million tonnes of coal a year and is expected to reduce the area’s agricultural productivity by 40 per cent.
The new mine sites will produce 2000 permanent jobs and net the state government $3.7bn in royalties over the mine’s 30-year lifespan.
