Xstrata need us even more now so that they can eventually pay off their Wandoan bill.
Interesting
Tiny Queensland town serves mining giant Xtrata with a $100 million bill Yahoo!7 Finance – 1 hour 22 minutes agoA tiny town in Queensland has served Swiss mining giant Xtrata a $100 million bill before the company begins work on a massive $6 billion coal mine project.
News Limited reports that Wandoan, with a population of just 380, has come up with a list of demands for Xtrata to fulfill before the work on what will be Australia’s biggest mining project gets underway.
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Xstrata is planning to construct southern hemisphere’s largest open cut coal mine project in the nutrient-rich town and is in process of settling purchase agreements landholders within the lease application area in Wandoan.
Wandoan council says the town is struggling to overcome the pressure that resources boom has put on its limited infrastructure and wants Xtrata to compensate.
The council's claim is reportedly just a fraction of what Xstrata would have to spend to develop the mine and even a rail line to the coast.
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News Limited reports that if the demands made by them are approved, the bill would average about $260,000 for each resident of the town. Xtrata was unavailable for comment.
Earlier in July, Wandoan landholders claimed Xstrata was attempting to "make an example of them" by reducing its compensation offers to purchase properties in its mining lease area by more than 25 per cent since the Queensland Land Court ruled in the company's favour in March.
According to local news website Queensland Country Life, the landholders claim Xstrata will also not provide evidence of its valuations nor justify how it has reached the reduced figures being offered.
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