GVK welcomes the Federal Government’s decision to grant environmental approval for the Alpha Mine and Rail Projects in Queensland.
Following a rigorous and thorough assessment process by two levels of government spanning four years, Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke gave an approval decision to construct and operate the Alpha Coal Mine and a railway line between the mine and the port at Abbot Point, near Bowen.
“We are delighted with the Federal Government decision. Ultimately we believe the overall assessment process has resulted in best practice environmental protection outcomes,” said GVK Chairman and Managing Director, Dr. GVK Reddy.
The Queensland Government had previously provided environmental clearance for the Alpha Coal Project in May, 2012.
GVK’s Respect and Commitment for the Environment
- GVK is a very environmentally responsible company;
- It has been working with environmental experts, environmental government agencies, landholders and stakeholders for four (4) years (since 2008);
- A rigorous and detailed environmental assessment process has been followed by GVK in Australia, a country that has one of the highest environmental standards in the world – which GVK fully supports
- GVK has spent in excess of $25 million specifically on ensuring that its environmental assessment process is of the highest standard;
- GVK has employed 275 environmental personnel in its study work to ensure that this project has a very high environmental standard and values; and
- GVK chose to invest in Australia because of its low political risk, coupled with strong environmental and safety standards which align with GVK’s corporate philosophy and values.
“This is another important milestone for our project which will provide significant benefits to the Alpha and Bowen regions, the state and the country. The projects we are planning will provide 2,000 on-going jobs in operations, directly employ around 4,000 during construction and return to government $1.5bn annually in royalties and taxes at peak production”, said GVK Vice-Chairman, G V Sanjay Reddy.
GVK has acquired a 79% stake in the Alpha Coal and Alpha West projects and a 100% stake in the Kevin’s Corner project in Queensland from Hancock Prospecting Pty. Ltd. These projects hold total resources of 8 billion tonnes and a peak capacity of 80 million tonnes per annum. When combined, these Projects will create one of the largest coal mining operations in the world. The Alpha Coal project has a mine life of 30+ years and a capacity of 32 mtpa which makes it suitable for high production open cut mining. GVK has also acquired a 100% stake in the 500 km rail line and a 60 million tonne per annum port as part of the “pit-to-port” logistics solution. The Queensland Government has selected GVK’s Rail Corridor as the north-south corridor for connecting the Galilee Basin to the Port of Abbot Point. GVK’s coal mining project with its superior quality low ash, low sulphur and low gas thermal coal, will be reliably exported mainly to Asian destinations. Construction is expected to start next year with first coal being produced in 2015/16.
“This positive decision also paves the way to ensure more than 1.4 billion people (largely in Asia) that face a major shortage of electricity, are provided with an additional source of coal to enhance supply of electricity to the region, thus improving quality of life of the people and overall economic development”, said GVK Vice-Chairman, G V Sanjay Reddy.
GVK (in accord with its values of being a good corporate citizen) also takes pride in running the largest not for profit medical emergency services organisation in the world that provides ambulance services to over 350 million people in India, with 3,200 Ambulances, employing 18,000 people, taking over 120,000 calls per day, of which 12,000 are emergencies, that results in over 300 lives being saved, every day (with over 280,000 lives being saved to date).