India’s Adani could win Carmichael mine approval within 2 years – Queensland resources official
NEW DELHI: India’s Adani Enterprises could theoretically win environmental approval for construction of the Carmichael coal mine in Australia in the next two years, a Queensland state resources official said, despite opposition from activists concerned about its impact on the Great Barrier Reef.
The firm, which plans to start producing around 10 million tonnes of coal a year and eventually ramp up to 27.5 million tonnes, has been at loggerheads with environmental activists in the eight years since the project was first proposed.
The comment on potential approval came in an interview with Caoilin Chestnutt, Queensland’s Resources Investment Commissioner, on the sidelines of the Coaltrans conference in New Delhi late on Wednesday.
Her agency is not responsible for issuing environmental approvals for the project, which is regulated by Queensland’s Department for Environment and Science.
Chestnutt told Reuters she believed environmental clearance for the project could in theory be given in the next several months.
Carmichael is one of the world’s biggest greenfield coal projects in recent years.
“I would guess, but it is an absolute mess, six months to two years,” she said. “They ( Department of environment) have said they (Adani) have to go back to the drawing board and draft a management plan.” — Reuters