Bravus Mining secures Qld royalty deal as rival coal miners struggle
Coal giants have warned of mine closures and job losses after Queensland handed controversial Bravus an exclusive royalty break.
The state government has entered dangerous territory by striking a sweetheart royalty deal for Bravus while other struggling miners are denied relief, a major lobby group has warned.
Coal Australia has also declared it is supremely confident the LNP government will be forced to deal with the mess of collapsing miners and job losses if they don’t fix Queensland’s coal super profits tax.
The warning from Coal Australia CEO Stuart Bocking comes after the government this week handed the operator of the controversial Carmichael coalmine a royalty holiday.
The deal with Bravus Mining and Resources — formerly known as Adani — was first struck in 2020 by the then state Labor government but never formally enacted due to a disagreement that had threatened to spill into court.
While Bravus will pay deferred royalties at the end of the deal with interest, the length of the deal and rate of interest has been kept secret by the state government.
Australia’s largest independent coal miner Whitehaven on Thursday revealed its profit declined by more than 50 per cent in the 2025 financial year due to lower prices and higher costs squeezing margins.
The results are in line with BHP Mitsubishi Alliance and Coronado Global Resources whose profits tumbled on the impact of lower coal prices, higher costs, and Queensland’s revenue-based super royalty scheme.
BHP this week revealed it was considering mothballing some of its coalmines in Queensland if low prices and the crippling royalty regime didn’t change.
Mr Bocking said BHP’s results should set off alarm bells within government as companies like that don’t “blithely reference” shutting down high-quality mines.
He made clear he doesn’t begrudge Bravus striking a royalty deal, but warned governments entered dangerous territory when they start picking winners and losers.
“News of the Bravus deal has been met with varying degrees of bewilderment,” he said.
“Particularly when other coal miners have recently sought interim royalty relief in a bid to stay afloat, only to be rebuffed by Queensland Revenue officials.”
One of those miners was Bowen Coking Coal — owned by Nick Jorss — which went into voluntary administration in recent weeks, imperilling 500 jobs.
Mr Jorss, who is also an ambassador of Coal Australia, said the royalties regime was a systemic regime threatening the biggest industry in the state.
“What I would say is that the coal industry is not looking for a handout, what we are looking for is sustainable taxation regime which doesn’t tax us out of existence,” he said.
The state government has entered “dangerous territory” by signing-off on a sweetheart royalty deal for Bravus while other struggling miners are denied relief, a major lobby group has warned.
Coal Australia has also declared it is supremely confident the LNP government will be forced to deal with the mess of collapsing miners and job losses if they don’t fix Queensland’s coal super profits tax.
The warning from Coal Australia CEO Stuart Bocking comes after the state government this week handed the operator of the controversial Carmichael coalmine a royalty holiday.
The deal with Bravus Mining and Resources — formerly known as Adani — was first struck in 2020 by the former Labor government but never formally enacted due to a disagreement that had threatened to spill into court.
While Bravus will pay deferred royalties at the end of the deal with interest — the length of the deal and rate of interest has been kept secret by the state government.
Australia’s largest independent coal miner Whitehaven on Thursday revealed its profit declined by more than 50 per cent in the 2025 financial year due to lower prices and higher costs squeezing margins.
The results are in line with BHP Mitsubishi Alliance and Coronado Global Resources whose profits tumbled on the impact of lower coal prices, higher costs, and Queensland’s revenue-based super royalty scheme.
BHP this week revealed it was considering mothballing some of its coalmines in Queensland if low prices and the crippling royalty regime didn’t change.
Mr Bocking said BHP’s results should set off alarm bells within government, as companies like that did not blithely reference shutting down high-quality mines.
He made clear he doesn’t begrudge Bravus striking a royalty deal, but warned governments entered dangerous territory when they start picking winners and losers.
“News of the Bravus deal has been met with varying degrees of bewilderment,” he said.
“Particularly when other coalminers have recently sought interim royalty relief in a bid to stay afloat, only to be rebuffed by Queensland Revenue officials.”
One of those miners was Bowen Coking Coal — owned by Nick Jorss — which went into voluntary administration in recent weeks, imperilling 500 jobs.
Mr Jorss, who is also an ambassador of Coal Australia, said the royalties regime was a systemic regime threatening the biggest industry in the state.
“What I would say is that the coal industry is not looking for a handout, what we are looking for is sustainable taxation regime which doesn’t tax us out of existence,” he said.
Treasurer David Janetzki, on the Bravus deal, said Queenslanders could “rest assured” they would be required to repay every cent to taxpayers with interest while investing $50m into an expansion that would create 600 jobs.
On royalties he said the LNP had committed to no changes over the forward estimates, and that stance would not change.
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