Business Standard

GVK Hancock welcomes court ruling

Court rejects appeal against environmental nod for company's Alpha Coal Project

GVK Hancock welcomes court ruling

BS Reporter Hyderabad
GVK Hancock, a joint venture of Hyderabad-based GVK Group and Australia's exploration and mining company Hancock Prospecting, said it welcomes today's Supreme Court judgement rejecting the appeals against environmental approvals for the Alpha Coal Project.

"We are pleased the court has clearly ruled that our project has continued to follow and comply with all regulatory and legal processes," the company said in a statement.

In 2011 GVK acquired majority stake in the Alpha Coal and Alpha West Coal projects and a 100 per cent stake in the Kevin's Corner Project in Queensland from Hancock Coal for about $ 1.26 billion.

 

The proposed project includes the development of coal mines, a 500-km rail project and a port project with a 60 million tonne handling capacity per annum involving a total investment of $10 billion. Later the project got stuck in a series of legal tangles due to opposition on environmental concerns over the project.

In its ruling, the Queensland court has rejected an appeal to the previous decision of the Land Court, as well as an appeal to the granting of the Environmental Authority for the proposed Alpha coal mine, according to the company.

"Once approvals are finalised we will execute coal offtake agreements with customers and finalise all financing arrangements in preparation for the commencement of construction," GVK Hancock spokesperson said.

The proposed Alpha coal mine will be a full open cut mine producing 32 million tonnes per annum for 30 plus years from a resource of 1.8 billion tonnes, with 1.2 billion tonnes of reserve, according to the company.

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Sep 04 2015 | 6:26 PM IST

Explore News