Collie Urea plant gets federal approval

Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers has received Commonwealth approval for its Collie Urea project.

The company says the project will be Australia's first gasification plant, turning Collie coal into fertiliser.

The Federal Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts has given the project the green light.

Perdaman's chairman and managing director Vikas Rambal, said receiving the approval marked an important milestone for the future of the project.

"The Federal approval highlights the support that both the State and Federal Government is willing to provide to the project and the optimism surrounding such an important development in the South West," he said.

The company said the project is expected to deliver considerable benefits to the state's economy, with planned capital expenditure of approximately $3.5 billion and annual export earnings in excess of $800 million.

Perdaman is expected to make more announcements regarding the project in the coming weeks.

See company statement below:

Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers is pleased to announce that it has received Federal environmental approval for its project from the Federal Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999.

This is one of the key regulatory approvals required prior to commencement of construction and is an important step forward for the project. This approval addresses offsite environmental impacts and does not include the project site itself, which is the subject of a separate Federal referral by the owner of the site, LandCorp.

Chairman and Managing Director of Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers Pty Ltd, Mr Vikas Rambal, said that receiving Federal environmental approval marked an important milestone for the future of the Project.

"This is positive news for the Perdaman Collie Urea project and one of many announcements expected over the course of the coming weeks. The Federal approval highlights the support that both the State and Federal Government is willing to provide to the project and the optimism surrounding such an important development in the South West."

The Perdaman Collie Urea project will be Australia's first gasification plant, turning Collie coal into urea (fertiliser) and will deliver considerable benefits to the West Australian economy, with planned capital expenditure of approximately $3.5billion and annual export earnings in excess of $800 million.

This announcement is the first of a number of milestone announcements anticipated over the coming weeks in relation to the Collie Urea Project.