An Australian firm has signed a $60bn (AUS$69bn; £38bn) deal to supply coal to Chinese power stations.
Clive Palmer, chairman of the company, Resourcehouse, said it was Australia's "biggest ever export contract".
Under the deal, the firm will build a new mining complex to give China Power International Development (CPI) 30m tonnes of coal a year for 20 years.
The plan involves building a huge new mining complex in the Australian state of Queensland, and laying 500km (311 miles) of railway line to move the coal to the coast.
Resourcehouse's executive director, Phil McNamara, said the "once-in-a-century project" would include open-cast and underground mines, with construction likely to begin later this year.
The complex in the Galilee basin, to be called China First, is expected to start coal production in 2013 and will churn out some 40 million tonnes a year.
Queensland state premier Anna Bligh anticipates the project will create tens of thousands of jobs and produce multi-million dollar royalty payments for the state government.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Australia signs $60 Billion coal deal with China.
The Enviro groups are really unhappy.
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Yeah, it will create thousands of jobs, but you can't ignore the environmental damage it will do. That's exactly how criticism like this comes about:
ReplyDelete"The only way they know to provide jobs is to kill the planet." (From http://www.newsy.com/videos/australia-pens-mammoth-coal-deal-with-china)
It really does come down to what kind of sacrifice Australia is willing to make for jobs.