Adani completes coal exploration at Australian mine

The Adani Group announced today the completion of its coal mining exploration programme at the Carmichael mine project in the Galilee basin in Queensland, Australia. The company said that the project had estimated coal reserves of up to 10 billion tonnes at the mine.

Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani said the company hoped to start production at the $10-billion project by 2015, and expected it to reach its peak level of 60 million tonnes a year by 2022, according to a PTI report.

The company further announced that, as part of the mining exploration, it had also completed the most-comprehensive geotechnical field investigation to define the coal resource at Carmichael, which at 10 billion tonnes makes this the largest single coal exploration tenement in the world.

"The Adani Group is now ready to gear up with its Carmichael mine project, which will include the construction of a world class mine, rail and port infrastructure all benefiting the state of Queensland," the company said in a statement.

"Our partnership with Australia and Queensland has been one of exceptional trust, transparency and understanding. Having seen the speed, and with the support received to undertake and complete the largest and most ambitious mining exploration programme in record time, I am now certain that Queensland has been the right choice. Australian industry and the Indian corporates like the Adani Group have some distinctive synergies, which will prove to be of mutual benefit to all in the long run," said Adani.

The mining exploration programme, which employed about 200 people both on and off site, has established reserves of up to 10 billion tonnes of Joint Ore Reserves Committee’s standard coal resource, including 3.4 billion tonnes in indicated and measured category in the Galilee Basin tenement.

The Adani Group has already invested $3 billion in cash in its integrated Australian projects through its Australian subsidiary, Adani Mining Pty.

The group is expected to invest $7 billion more over the next few years.

The group is operating Abbot Point coal terminal in Queensland, which it had acquired in 2011 and is planning to increase its annual capacity to 120 million tonnes per year from current 50 million tonnes.