A wagyu cattle breeding farm in Queensland will be sold to the mining company Xstrata after a deal was struck with the Australian Agricultural Company (ACC).
The 17,474-hectare pastoral farm Meteor Downs will be sold for $21.6 million, without cattle or machinery.
The global mining company, which has headquarters in Switzerland, already owns the south-eastern corner of Meteor Downs, where it has the Rolleston Coal Mine.
In response to the deal, the ACC have said that the price was “well in excess of the book value” of the land, which had previously a stud farm, but had become a “non-core asset”.
According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, the ACC managing director David Farley has said the money will be reinvested into other business areas, including grazing land and a beef processing facility in Darwin.
However, Mr. Farley was critical of the priority that the mining industry has over farmland. "If Australia wants to sustain its agricultural services, it needs to have a proper audit and have a clear understanding of the impact of mining and coal seam gas," he said.
Despite the land sale deal, Xstrata will still require environmental approval due to the Meteor Down’s proximity to the Fitzroy River, which flows directly on to the Great Barrier Reef.
An application for the expansion of the Rolleston Coal Mine was lodged on the 17th May, which states "The [Rolleston Coal Expansion Project] is planned to consist of between five and 10 open-cut pits that are either extensions to the existing Rolleston Coal operation or adjacent to the existing Rolleston Coal operation."
Xstrata plan to commence mining the expanded Rolleston Mine in 2015.
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