Glencore's multi-billion dollar Wandoan coal mine proposal has been granted mining leases years after it was shelved amid falling commodity prices and a ramped up global response to climate change.
Queensland's Natural Resources and Mines Minister Dr Anthony Lynham on Tuesday approved three 27-year leases covering 30,000 hectares for the first stage of its $7 billion Wandoan mine near Roma.
Doubts about the future of the Wandoan mine had lingered since 2012, amid falling thermal coal prices and a poor market outlook.
The approval has enraged environmental groups who say the government is prioritising a flailing coal industry over communities and putting the state's agricultural industry at further risk.
"For many years local farmers have been fighting this coal mine," Australian Conservation Foundation spokesman Jason Lyddieth said on Wednesday.
"We know that digging up coal and burning it is polluting our air and fuelling climate change.
"The Queensland government needs to get serious about preparing for a carbon pollution free world. It needs to get serious about our water, our land and our air."
The open cut mine is proposed to operate for 35 years in the Surat Basin, and will require a railway to the Gladstone Port.
In a statement on Wednesday, Glencore said new, large scale projects depended on market support, and that significant investment was still needed.
Glencore has previously acknowledged the disproportionate risk surrounding new projects.
