The Queensland Resources Council has welcomed the Queensland Government's announcement today of an implementation agreement for the proposed CopperString 2.0 high voltage 1100 km transmission line to the North West Minerals Province.
QRC Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane said the progress of CopperString 2.0 was part of the Resources Industry Recovery Agenda presented to the Government by QRC-AMEC in June.
"The North West Minerals Province is a key area of development for Queensland's resources sector and its development will help deliver the strongest possible recovery from COVID-19," Mr Macfarlane said.
Mr Macfarlane said the Queensland Government's announcement of an implementation agreement follows the Australian Government's commitment in its Budget last night to provide funding to progress a final investment decision for the project.
"The QRC, as the peak representative for the State's coal, metals and gas explorers, producers and suppliers, was involved in the development of the State Government's Strategic Blueprint for Queensland's North West Minerals Province," he said.
The Blueprint highlighted that: "Common user infrastructure provides the opportunity to drive down development costs for individual projects, with multiple users contributing to the development of, and benefiting from key forms of infrastructure required for mining and other projects. This may include transport infrastructure such as road, port and rail, utilities such as electricity, gas and water, or other types of minerals processing infrastructure".
"Energy costs for the existing mineral producers in the region are amongst the highest in Queensland," Mr Macfarlane said.
"CopperString 2.0 also promises to unlock some of Queensland's most prospective renewable energy generation sites."
