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Category: Clive Palmer / Person / Mining Industry / Business, Economics and Finance

Palmer's plans for new mine outrages Queensland Nickel workers

Wednesday, 18 Jan 2017 15:26:58 | Isabella Higgins

Mamelon Station, a breeding and finishing property, was bought by Clive Palmer for $8.3m in 2010. (Supplied: Colliers International)

Clive Palmer is looking to build a new open-cut coal mine on his central Queensland cattle station, despite his collapsed Queensland Nickel refinery still owing more than $300 million.

The move has outraged the Premier and sacked workers at Queensland Nickel, which went into administration last year following the collapse of its Townsville refinery.

Styx Coal, a subsidiary of Mr Palmer's masthead company Mineralogy, is trying to get its mining lease approved on Queensland Nickel's Mamelon Station, north-west of Rockhampton.

Queensland Nickel's administrators tried and failed to sell the 6,200-hectare property last year to pay back creditors.

Clive Palmer Photo: Mr Palmer's companies have applied for a mining lease on a station Queensland Nickel administrators want to sell. (AAP Image: Dan Peled)

Mr Palmer bought the property in 2010 for $8 million, but at the auction last March it was passed in for just $1.5 million.

Styx and Fairway Coal already had mining exploration leases on the property, which would place conditions on any buyer.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has blasted the mining proposal.

"The mess that Clive Palmer left Queensland Nickel in Townsville is disgraceful," she said.

"Fundamentally he should be focused on that first and foremost before he focuses on anything else."

A spokesperson for the Queensland Department of Mines and Natural Resources said Styx Coal still had a number of significant regulatory steps to complete before it would be issued a mining lease.

Clive Palmer is looking to open a new mine in central Queensland on his Mamelon station Photo: Experts say it could be years for any mine to become operational. (ABC News: Isabella Higgins)

They include environmental approvals and extensive public consultation with affected landholders.

"Stakeholders will have the right to lodge objections to the project being granted approval," the spokesperson said.

'Where's the money coming from Clive?'

Former Queensland Nickel worker Samantha Larkins said she was outraged Mr Palmer was trying to start the new business.

"How is that legally possible when he owes $300 million?" she said.

Styx Coal and Fairway Coal want to mine the Mamelon Station in Marlborough. Photo: The Styx Coal Project consists of an open-cut operation and rail connection to the Queensland Rail North Coast Line. (Supplied: Minerology )

"Where's the money coming from Clive?

"You didn't have any money [when Queensland Nickel collapsed], so where is the money coming from?

"It's been difficult for everyone. A lot of families have done it really tough.

"The impact on Townsville has been enormous."

The proposed project would include two open-cut mines, producing thermal and coking coal for export.

Experts say if approved, it would take years for the mine to become operational.

Central Queensland University resource economist John Rolfe said the mine could also face extra hurdles due to its location.

"Because it's so close to the coast, the environmental concerns and the environmental issues will be much higher than they would be in a remote occasion," he said.

"I think this is quite an early stage in the planning, in some ways this is quite a whimsical attempt to create some value.

"We don't know yet how good all the infrastructure that would be available [would be], like if local rail lines would be suitable for carrying coal or whether it would need to be upgraded."

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