Galilee Coal Project Overview

Galilee Coal Project Overview

Waratah Coal, through its Galilee Coal Project [1](Northern Export Facility) seeks to develop a large export thermal coal mine in the southern Galilee Basin, 30km north of the township of Alpha, Central Queensland. Waratah Coal is owned by Clive Palmer.

On or around the 4 October 2019 a Public Notice posted on the Queensland Government’s Notices of mining lease applications website[2] advised of Waratah Coal’s intention to secure its mining lease (ML). On the 18 October 2019 Waratah Coal advertised a Public Notice within the CQ News newspaper for the environmental authority (EA) and ML.

Waratah Coal’s proposed Galilee Coal Project includes:

  • Mines – 4 x underground coal mines, 2 x open-cut coal mines;
  • Coal Extraction: 56 Mt/y ROM coal, 40 Mt/y product coal;
  • Mine lease period: 35 years;
  • Coal Quality: 6350 kcal/kg[3] (adb) and 5500 kcal/kg (NAR)
  • Railway: 453 km standard-gauge railway line from the mine to the Abbot Point coal terminal (Abbot Point SDA boundary);
  • Water Access: sourced via groundwater ingress and localised ML rainfall;
  • Energy Access: sourced from the grid via pole and power-line;
  • Airport: Alpha Aerodrome as the FIFO transit hub;
  • Impacted land: the 4877.49 ha of remnant vegetation clearance comprises 31 per cent of the total clearing required for the project’[4]
  • Impacted watercourse: Lagoon Creek, Malcolm Creek and Saltbush Creek. Greater than 7km;[5]
  • Impacted protected area: Bimblebox Nature Refuge;
  • Impacted properties: 7 grazing properties directly impacted by mining operations.

Waratah has advised that the construction duration for each open-cut mine would be 18 months; each underground mine, 2 years; and the rail, 3 years[6].

Under the name of China First Coal Project, Waratah Coal lodged its application for ML 70454 on the 30 May 2011 and EA on the 27 May 2011. Between 2009 and 2013 an Environmental impact statement (EIS) and Supplementary information to EIS (SEIS) was developed and provided for community consultation and submissions. Waratah Coal has secured the following:

  1. 9 August 2013 – the Queensland Coordinator General issued its Coordinator General’s evaluation report on the environmental impact statement (CG Evaluation Report), which included draft conditions of approval, and other recommendations;
  2. 18 December 2013 – the Federal Minister for the Environment approved the project with conditions[7] under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC);
  3. 4 December 2015 – the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (DEHP) issued a draft environmental authority EPML00571313 (Draft EA) for the Galilee Coal Mine that states draft conditions of approval[8].

Through its Public Notice for ML 70454, as certified by Qld Department of Natural Resources, Mine and Energy (DNRME), Waratah Coal advised that objections to the application must be lodged on or before the 2 December 2019 [9].

Subsequently however, the Department advised that Waratah Coal needed to re-apply. The new deadline for objections became 3 April, 2020.

The Qld Department State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning (SDMIP) list the mine proponent as Waratah Coal (waratahcoal.com). Waratah Coal Pty Ltd is a 100% subsidiary of the privately owned Mineralogy Pty Ltd.

On naming: The Waratah Coal’s Galilee Basin coal mine is and has been known by various names. The Waratah Coal website names the development as Galilee Coal Project. The Department of State Development website lists it as Galilee Coal Project (Northern Export Facility). Its ML and EA applications were made using China First Coal Project. In the Draft EA it is known as the Galilee Coal Mine.

 

[1] Department State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, ‘Galilee Coal Project’, n.d., http://statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/coordinator-general/assessments-and-approvals/coordinated-projects/completed-projects/galilee-coal-project.html.

[2] Mines and Energy Natural Resources, ‘Mining Lease Application Notices’, Text, n.d., https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/mining-energy-water/resources/minerals-coal/authorities-permits/applying/mining-lease-application.

[3] Waratah Coal Pty Ltd, ‘Galilee Coal Project (Northern Export Facility) – Waratah Coal’, Galilee coal project (northern export facility), n.d., https://www.waratahcoal.com/galilee-coal-project-northern-export-facility-coal-project/.

[4] Department State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, sPage 41.

[5] Department State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, ‘Galilee Coal Project (Northern Export Facility) Coordinator-General’s Evaluation Report on the Environmental Impact Statement’ (State of Queensland, August 2013), sPage 63., http://www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/resources/project/china-first-coal/galilee-coal-cg-report.pdf.

[6] Department State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, sPage 21.

[7] Department of Environment and Energy, ‘Referral Details · EPBC Approval 2009/4737’, 18 December 2013, http://epbcnotices.environment.gov.au/referralslist/referral-details/?id=8b737a12-4c67-e511-b4b8-005056ba00ab#.

[8] Queensland Department of Environment and Science, ‘Draft Environmental Authority Galilee Coal Mine EPML00571313’ (Queensland Government, 4 December 2015), http://www.waratahcoal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2_EA-Draft-Permit.pdf.

[9] Department of Natural Resources, Mine and Energy, ‘Notice for Mining Lease No. 40454’ (Queensland Government, 4 October 2019), https://www.dnrme.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/1457649/notice-ml-70454.pdf.