Coal Mines Sign up to Export More Product Through New Gladstone Terminal

IF the coal industry is to be put to bed, as Greens Senate leader Bob Brown suggests, no one has told the Queensland industry.

Eight coal companies on Monday signed up with QRN, the former Queensland Rail, to push an extra 27 million tonnes of coal over an expanded rail network in the southern Bowen Basin - from Rolleston to around Emerald and Springsure to close to Maryborough - through to a new coal terminal in Gladstone.

Once the line upgrade and expansion is complete, and a number of new mines are developed to produce the thermal coal for electricity, largely in Asia, the coal output (at current prices) would be worth $3.2 billion annually.

The contract with QRN is dependent on the development of a new coal terminal at Gladstone's Wiggins Island, called WICET, which is yet to get a final financial go-ahead.

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Courier Mail