Adani Group's giant export thermal coal project in Queensland has cleared another environmental hurdle with the Australian federal environment minister Greg Hunt signing off on dredging activity to enlarge Abbot Point port for coal exports, industry and Australian government sources said Tuesday.
The minister's approval comes with conditions such as placing a limit of 1.1 million cu m on the amount of dredging material allowed to be removed from berth pockets and apron areas, according to the environmental approval document signed by the minister.
In October, the Queensland government approved dredging work to expand Abbot Point port in northern Queensland, a necessary step in Indian company Adani's planned A$16.5 billion ($11.7 billion) Carmichael coal project.
The Queensland Resources Council, a coal industry group, welcomed the approval and said in a statement that Hunt's decision "paves the way the construction of a second terminal at Abbot Point for exports to a coal-hungry India."
Abbot Point port is the designated port option for Adani and other Galilee Basin coal projects such as GVK Hancock that are 400 km inland from Queensland's coastline.
"The port expansion, from 50 million mt/year to 120 million mt/year, will create hundreds of jobs during construction, as part of the estimated 5,000 construction jobs for the Adani mine, rail and port projects as well as thousands of operational jobs," QRC CEO Michael Roche said in the statement.
Adani Group's Australian subsidiary, Adani Mining Proprietary Limited, plans to develop an open-cut mine in the Galilee Basin to yield 60 million mt/year of coal and ship this via a new 190 km rail line to Abbot Point.
Adani currently leases Abbot Point's single 50 million mt/year coal terminal and wants to build additional shipment capacity at the port.
The ministry's approval for dredging work to go ahead at Abbot Point immediately came under fire from conservationist groups.
Greenpeace Australia said in a statement that it was "reckless and pointless" to gouge away at a pristine habitat and endanger Queensland's offshore Great Barrier Reef, and stated the area to be dredged was home to dolphins and dugongs that rely on seagrass for food.
"It is illogical to expand the port to make capacity for the proposed Carmichael mine, because it is a dead-end project," said the conservation organization, pointing to the A$16.5 billion cost of Adani's mining, rail and port project.
