QRC congratulates Peabody on 20-year milestone

THE Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has congratulated Peabody Australia after its central Queensland Coppabella Mine celebrated 20 years of operations "while supporting jobs and paying royalties to all Queenslanders".

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the Bowen Basin mine has been a significant economic contributor across the region producing around 65 million tonnes of pulverized coal injection (PCI) used in the production of steel.

“Mining is what makes our state great and Coppabella has been a major contributor to Queensland’s economy since it opened in 1998, last year it supported 435 jobs,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“Coppabella has exported coal to Japan, Korea and Taiwan paying royalties to the State Government which are used to build the schools and hospitals. That is good news for every town and community that relies on mining – from Mount Isa to Maroochydore. 

“The good news is, the resources industry is still creating jobs for people now, and for decades to come.

“Queensland would be an unimaginably different place without the huge scale of mining investment over the past 25 years and in the past 12 months the Queensland resources industry has added 10, 000 new jobs – or a new job every 40 minutes, invested $1 million every hour and exported $1 billion every week."

According to the QRC, the Queensland resources sector now provides one in every six dollars in the Queensland economy, sustains one in eight Queensland jobs, and supports more than 16,400 businesses across the State – all from 0.1 percent of Queensland's land mass.

www.qrc.org.au

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