Adani mine approved

DOW JONES, SYDNEY--Australia's federal government reapproved Adani Group's plans for a
major coal mine and rail line in eastern Australia, injecting momentum into a
multibillion-dollar project that had snagged on environmental concerns and the global
commodity price slump.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt attached 36 conditions to his approval of Adani's
Carmichael coal mine and associated infrastructure in the Galilee Basin of eastern
Australia's Queensland state.
Adani aims to produce as much as 60 million metric tons of thermal coal annually for
export to its power plants in India. Previous estimates have pegged the construction
costs at 16.5 billion Australian dollars (US$12.1 billion).
Mr. Hunt also approved Adani's plans to build a rail line connecting the
Carmichael mine with existing ports, which face the Great Barrier Reef.
It comes more than two months after a federal court in Sydney overturned the
minister's earlier approval for Adani to build the Carmichael coal mine.
Environmental activists had raised concerns about the project's impact on the yakka
skink--a native Australian lizard--and another vulnerable species, the ornamental snake.

Sympathetic, left-wing half-wits have rushed to defend the yakka and the ornamental, starting a Twitter tag #I'll hide with you#.