The governmentof Queensland in Australia approved the grant of three mining leases for 's coal mine and railproject, according to an April 3 government release.

However,the coal mine still requires some approvals before construction can start, includingsecondary approvals for rail, port facilities, power, water, roadworks and the airport,and a financial assurance with the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection.

Citing a spokesperson for Adani Australia, AustralianMining reportedApril 4 that the company will continue to finalize second-tier approvals as it intendsto kick off construction in 2017.

The leases— 70441 Carmichael, 70505 Carmichael East and 70506 Carmichael North — are estimatedto contain 11 billion tonnes of thermal coal.

The projectis expected to generate over 5,000 jobs during construction and over 4,500 jobsduring operations, the government statement added.