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GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd has secured an environmental approval for the $6-billion Alpha coal project, located in the Galilee basin in Queensland, Australia.
The Environmental Authority (Clearance) has been granted after over six years of rigorous assessment of the Alpha mine, which included around 300 collaborative scientific studies, involving over 500 specialist consultants.
“This is one of the most significant milestones in the development of our Galilee Basin coal projects till date, which will create one of the most remarkable pieces of regional and economic developments Queensland has seen for decades,” said GVK Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director of GVK.
Job creation GVK acquired the coal mines in Queensland with 8 billion tonnes reserves for $1.26 billion in 2011 and envisages an investment of $10 billion for developing Alpha mines, a 500-km rail project and a 60-million-tonne a year port.
“This milestone takes us another step closer towards commencing (the project), which will create around 4,000 jobs during its three-year construction and more than 1,800 jobs over its 30-plus years of operation,” said GV Sanjay Reddy, Vice-Chairman, GVK Infra.
“We’ve invested tens of millions of dollars and thousands of man hours assessing, planning and engaging with communities to reach this stage.”
Cost competitive The Alpha coal project would allow for large scale mining techniques, which would ensure that the proposed mine remains cost competitive even in current tough market conditions, GVK Hancock, the group’s Australian coal unit, said in a statement.
The combination of large scale mining techniques, favourable geology and other techniques would deliver a free-on-board price that would ensure the mine remains relatively immune to cyclical coal prices.
With the environmental nod, GVK’s key focus is now on advancing the project to a point where construction can commence.
Aurizon Holdings The company will execute coal off-take agreements after finalising a joint venture with coal rail operator Aurizon Holdings and overcoming the legal challenges to the project.
The Alpha mine will be a full open cut mine producing around 32 million tonnes a year for 30 years.
On Thursday, GVK Power’s stock gained 0.28 per cent to ₹10 on the BSE, while the benchmark Sensex gained 1.49 per cent to close at 26,637.28 points.
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