In all, eight coal producers have committed to a total 27 million mt/y capacity allocation for Stage 1 of the WICET development, an industry funded development which will ultimately see an expansion of the Gladstone port facility by at least 70 million mt/y.

The capacity commitments are the basis for WICET to secure funding for Stage 1, which is the first of three anticipated stages of the terminal development.

“The WICET announcement was a significant milestone for Queensland coal production and a very positive step as WICET moves to secure funding and commencing construction. Bandanna’s transition from explorer to producer has always been predicated on access to port which this decision delivers,” said Dr. Ray Shaw, managing director, Bandanna Energy. Bandanna has projects with JORC resources exceeding 1.3 billion mt.