Alpha north coal project

The Waratah Coal ñ Alpha North Coal Project, also known as the ìChina First Projectî in the Galilee Basin in Central West Queensland, near the town of Alpha, was granted environmental approval by the Australian Federal Government in December 2013. The approval has cleared the way for it to continue with its development that includes the commencement of engineering works in the first quarter of 2014 that will have it exporting coal out of the enlarged Abbot Point Coal terminal in late 2016.

Waratah Coal ñ Alpha North Coal Project Will Consist of Underground and Open Cut Coal Mines
The Waratah Coal ñ Alpha North Coal project is a 6.4 billion dollar coal mining project that will eventually include two open cut mines and four underground coal mines, along with all their associated processing and coal handling facilities. It will also incorporate a 453 kilometre railway line that will take the coal from the mine site to the Abbot Point coal terminal on the coast at Bowen.

Federal Government Approves Waratah Coal ñ Alpha North Coal Project
In mid-December 2013 the Australian Federal Government gave approval for the project to go ahead with the necessary expansion of the Abbot Point terminal. This expansion will require the dredging of three million cubic metres of the sea bed and disposing of the material within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park area. The Abbot Point coal terminal expansion will double its present coal handling capacity and make it one of the largest in the world.

Waratah Coal ñ Alpha North Coal Project Given a 25 Year Life
The Waratah Coal ñ Alpha North Coal Project has the right to mine up to 1.4 billion tonnes of coal in the Galilee Basin which it is planning to extract at the rate of 40 million tonnes of thermal coal a year, over a 25 year period. It has the potential to become the biggest coal mine in Australia employing up to 6,000 direct employees and contractors.

Environmentalists Angered at Decision to Approve Waratah Coal ñ Alpha North Coal Project
The approval to allow the Waratah Coal ñ Alpha North Coal project to proceed angered environmentalists who fear the mine and its railway will threaten the future of certain endangered bird species that exist in a local nature reserve.

Waratah Coal ñ Alpha North Coal Project Facts
The Alpha North Coal Project, that has now been given approval to continue with its development to become the largest coal mine in the southern hemisphere includes the following facts:
It will process 56 million tonnes of raw coal a year to produce 40 million tonnes of thermal coal for exporting to China out of the Abbot Point Coal terminal
It has a JORC Resource of 3.480 billion tonnes of coal
The Abbot Point Multi Cargo Facility will be expanded to handle 40 million tonnes of coal a year from the project
The project will require the construction of a 453 standard guage railway leading from the mine site to the Abbot Point terminal
The coal mining complex at Alpha North will consist of a 40 million tonnes a year open cut coal mining operation, underground longwall mining operations and a coal handling processing plant, (CHPP).

Waratah Coal is an Australian coal exploration and development company that is privately owned by Queensland billioneer Clive Palmer's company, Mineralogy Pty Ltd. Waratah Coal is in posssession of extensive exploration permits for both coal and other minerals in the mineral and coal rich basins of Queensland and the Northern Territory.
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