Surat rail mandate boosts NEC’s Elimatta project

Northern Energy Corporation has welcomed the Queensland Government....

  Northern Energy Corporation has welcomed the Queensland Government’s granting of an unconditional exclusive mandate for development of the $1 billion-plus Surat Basin Railway as a significant boost for the company’s Elimatta coal project at Wandoan in southern Queensland.NEC’s Managing Director, Keith Barker said the State Government’s confirmation of an unconditional exclusive mandate to the consortium proposing the development of the so-called ‘Southern Missing Link’ had brought this important piece of railway infrastructure another step closer. “This is a another significant move in progressing the railway that will open the coal-rich Surat Basin, with a new 207km rail line from Wandoan to Banana allowing access to the Port of Gladstone,” Mr Barker said. “For our Elimatta project at Wandoan, access to such infrastructure is vitally important in the development of our coal resource,” he said. The consortium partners – Australian Transport and Energy Corridor, Dawson Valley Railway, Industry Funds Management, Queensland Rail, Xstrata Coal and Anglo Coal – were initially granted a conditional exclusive mandate late last year. Mr Barker said the move to unconditional status was further evidence of the Queensland Government’s strong commitment to the project and would enable the Consortium to develop the project through to completion.NEC’s Elimatta thermal coal project is located 30km west of Wandoan. Mr Barker said the prospect of the rail project going ahead was further enhanced by Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata’s recent approval of a pre-feasibility study into developing its own Wandoan project, which would be the largest coal mine in Australia. “The coal from Elimatta is highly suited for Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle generation and other low emissions technology,” Mr Barker said. “Up until now these coal reserves in the Surat Basin have been largely undeveloped because they have been stranded by a lack of rail infrastructure.” Mr Barker said a new open-access, standard-gauge railway would offer greatly increased capacity and efficiency when compared with the existing rail network servicing southern Queensland. “I am pleased that the Government has confirmed the railway will be an open access line with sufficient capacity to meet demand for coal and other freight users. This link should provide all companies, which are developing isolated coal deposits across the Surat Basin, with access to export markets,” he said.