Australian miner Resourcehouse said Saturday it had signed a $60 billion coal deal with China, describing it as the country’s « biggest-ever export contract », reported AFP.

Resourcehouse chairman Clive Palmer said the company had negotiated a 20-year agreement to supply China Power International Development (CPI) with 30 million tonnes of coal per year from a proposed mine in central Queensland.

Palmer, Australia’s fifth-richest man, said he had awarded the engineering and construction management contract for the thermal coal mine, named « China First » to Metallurgical Corp of China (MCC).

The Export-Import Bank of China had financed a six billion dollar loan, Palmer said, but emphasised the project was 100 percent Australian-owned.

Executive director Phil McNamara said the « once-in-a-century project, » which is expected to begin construction later this year, would include open-cut and underground mines and a 495-kilometre (308-mile) rail line.

Palmer plans to float Resourcehouse on the Hong Kong stock exchange next month in a bid to raise up to three billion dollars for coal, iron ore and oil and gas projects in Australia and oil and gas exploration in Papua New Guinea.

Source : Konaxis

Tags: Australia, China, Coal, New Guinea