{"id":608220,"date":"2026-04-15T10:07:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T10:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/608220\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T10:07:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T10:07:15","slug":"mixed-reaction-to-chinese-backed-companys-purchase-of-kestrel-coal-mine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/608220\/","title":{"rendered":"Mixed reaction to Chinese-backed company’s purchase of Kestrel Coal Mine"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sale of one of Australia’s most productive underground coal mines to a Chinese-backed company has been slammed by environment groups but hailed as a “vote of confidence” by the Queensland government.<\/p>\n

Yancoal Australia Ltd announced on the ASX this week that it would acquire an 80 per cent interest in Kestrel Coal Mine, 40 kilometres north of Emerald in central Queensland.<\/p>\n

Kestrel Coal holds that majority stake in a joint venture between global private equity manager EMR capital and Indonesian company Adaro Energy.<\/p>\n

The other 20 per cent belongs to Mitsui Coal and is not part of the sale.<\/p>\n

Yancoal will spend up to $US2.4 billion ($3.36 billion) on the purchase, adding to its vast portfolio, which includes ties to at least 10 mines in Australia.<\/p>\n

It is majority owned by the leading coal producer in China, Yankuang Energy Group, a subsidiary of the Chinese-government-owned energy enterprise, Shandong Energy Group.<\/p>\n

\"Conveyor<\/p>\n

Yancoal describes the Kestrel mine as one of the “largest producing” underground coal operations in the country. (Supplied: Kestrel Coal Resources)<\/p>\n

Queensland Mines Minister Dale Last said the sale was “another major vote of confidence” in the state’s coal industry.<\/p>\n

“This investment sends a powerful message \u2014 Queensland is open for business and ready to partner with those who back our state,” he said.<\/p>\n

But Queensland Conservation Council acting director Anthony Gough hit out at the sale.<\/p>\n

“Any amount of coal that comes out of the ground pushes us further and further away from a safe climate,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s quite disappointing to see that resources companies like this are taking the opportunity to make a quick buck off a sale rather than doing the right thing by communities and planning for a transition to the future.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Dale Last says the investment sends a “powerful message”. (ABC Wide Bay: Lucy Loram)<\/p>\n

‘Strong strategic fit’<\/p>\n

Rio Tinto sold the mine<\/a> to the current consortium in 2018 for $US2.25 billion ($2.9 billion at the time).<\/p>\n

In its ASX statement, Yancoal described Kestrel as “the largest producing underground coal mine” in Australia. It produced almost 6 million tonnes of coal in 2025.<\/p>\n

The mine has a life span of 25 years and produces metallurgical coal, used for steelmaking, that is exported mostly to Asia via Gladstone.<\/p>\n

In the statement Yancoal chief executive Sharif Burra said the purchase was a “strong strategic fit” for the company.<\/p>\n

Yancoal described the long-term outlook for metallurgical coal as promising, driven by “sustained steel demand growth in Asia and a constrained global supply pipeline”.<\/p>\n

The Queensland Conservation Council disagreed, pointing to modelling released by the federal treasury last year<\/a> that predicted that the value of Australian coal and gas exports would fall by about 50 per cent by 2035.<\/p>\n

Given that, Mr Gough said it was important for mining companies to transition to more “future-proof” industries, to back the communities they operate in.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

According to the Queensland government, the Bowen Basin contains some of the world\u2019s highest-grade metallurgical coal. (AAP)<\/p>\n

Sale to be finalised later this year<\/p>\n

EMR Capital chief executive Jason Chang said the company was pleased to see the mine go to a “very capable” operator, especially after a 20 per cent increase in production since 2018.<\/p>\n

Though he agreed the sale showed how strong the industry was, the company was hopeful Queensland would review its coal royalty scheme.<\/p>\n

“We did lose quite substantial value as a result of the imposition of the royalties,\u201d Mr Chang said.<\/p>\n

More than 800 people are employed at the mine site.<\/p>\n

Mr Chang said he expected a smooth transition of ownership, which was reiterated by a spokesperson for Yancoal.<\/p>\n

“We are working closely with the sellers and management on communications to the site workforce to minimise disruption during the transition period,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Pending regulatory approvals, Yancoal said it was aiming to have the acquisition completed “towards the end of Q3” this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sale of one of Australia’s most productive underground coal mines to a Chinese-backed company has been slammed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[295807,2001,64,63,12333,99,44157,295805,295806,78871,174538],"class_list":["post-608220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-anthony-gough","tag-asx","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bowen-basin","tag-business","tag-dale-last","tag-kestrel-coal-mine","tag-kestrel-mine-sale","tag-queensland-conservation-council","tag-yancoal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}