South Burnett coal project
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The South Burnett coal project is a proposed open-cut thermal coal mine.[1] The mine would lie 10km south of Kingaroy, Queensland, Australia and last over thirty years.[2]
Contents
Location
The undated image below shows the exact location of the proposed mine.[2]
Transport
The transport corridor is proposed to be either a multi-user railway line or coal slurry pipeline. The transport corridor will be 131 km long and connect the mine with the North Coast Line near Theebine. The route approximately follows the defunct Kingaroy Branch Line.[2]
Opposition
Many local people are against the mine as it is on agricultural land. Fertile red soils, used to grow predominantly peanuts and legumes, surround Kingaro including the land where the mine is proposed.[3] It is farmers who are leading the opposition campaign.[4] A number of farmers would have to be moved off their farms.[5]
An underground coal gasification plant used to be here, operated by the same company Cougar Energy, now Moreton Resources. It was closed in 2010 due to contamination of ground water. Underground coal gasification was banned in Queensland in 2016.[6]
The Tarong North power station is a coal fired power station 20km away it has said that it doesn't want to buy the coal as it already has a local supply. It says, "Stanwell today reiterated its position that it has more than enough competitive cost coal to supply Tarong’s power stations from its adjacent Meandu Mine until the end of their economic lives. Stanwell’s chief executive officer, Richard Van Breda, said it would not be in Stanwell’s commercial interest to source more expensive coal from Moreton Resources’ proposed project. In fact it would cost Stanwell hundreds of millions of dollars to make such a change."[7]
Coal Mine Background
June 2018 'Coordinated project' declaration lapsed December 2016 Terms of Reference for EIS completed October- November 2016 Draft terms of reference for EIS public consultation August 2016 Final initial advice statement submitted June 2016 Commonwealth Minister for the Environment decided the project is a 'controlled action' May 2016 Application, including initial advice statement, submitted May 2016 Project referred to Commonwealth Minister for the Environment
In 2013 Cougar Energy had a debt of over 8 million dollars after it tried to *** the Queensland government. Later that year it changed its name to Moreton Resources and relisted on the Australian Stock Exchange.[8]
Project Details
- Sponsor: Moreton Resources[2] formerly Cougar Energy[9]
- Parent Company:
- Location: 10km south of Kingaroy, Queensland, Australia[2]
- GPS Coordinates: -26.598949, 151.852885 (exact)[2]
- Status: Development[2]
- Production Capacity: 10 Mtpa (or 5 Mtpa the website of the company contradicts itself)[2]
- Total Resource: 122.3 Mt[2]
- Mineable Reserves:
- Coal type: Thermal[2]
- Mine Size:
- Mine Type: Opencast[2]
- Start Year:
- Source of Financing:
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ Queensland Government, "South Burnett Coal Project", Queensland State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and planning, 20 June 2018.
- ↑ Jump up to: 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Moreton Resources, "About South Burnett Coal Project", Moreton Resources website, accessed 3 December 2019.
- ↑ Nikola Van de Wetering, "Would a coal mine save Kingaroy, or destroy it? Opinion is fiercely divided", ABC News, 18 June 2019.
- ↑ ABC News, "Coal country", ABC News, around 7 minutes 15 June 2019.
- ↑ Nikola Van de Wetering, "Coal country", ABC News, around 10.30 minutes 15 June 2019.
- ↑ ABC News "Coal country", ABC News, from 11 minutes 15 June 2019.
- ↑ Stanwell Corporation, "Stanwell reiterates its position on Moreton Resources to the community", Stanwell media release, 25 February 2016.
- ↑ ABC News "Coal country", ABC News, around 14 minutes, 15 June 2019.
- ↑ Troy Kippen, "Proposed site 'doubles'", South Burnett Times, Press Reader website, 12 August 2014.
