Around 61,500 new operational jobs will be created in the mining sector by 2015, as well as tens of thousands more in the construction stages, according to estimates released in a report last week from the National Resources Sector Employment Taskforce.

The Taskforce, which was established last year, was tasked with consulting with industry to better understand the skills and employment numbers required for more than 75 advanced major resources projects, and some 286 less advanced projects – most slated to commence production in the period 2010 to 2020.

Engineering and construction company Clough Limited (ASX:CLO) today announced the launch of Clough Seam Gas, a new engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) division dedicated to clients operating in the Australian coal seam gas industry. 

In a resource industry first, a number of mining projects in Queensland are about to launch a major on-line survey to determine the level of interest from trainees, semi-skilled, female and Indigenous participants, together with those already working in the industry for fly in, fly out opportunities from Brisbane.  

The Queensland Government has granted conditional approval to QGC’s $A8 billion Queensland Curtis Liquefied Natural Gas (QCLNG) Project, to be located near Gladstone.

The approval comes with strict conditions, which includes the establishment of an Integrated Project Housing Strategy to provide additional affordable housing in the Gladstone area and measures to ensure as many local and Queensland suppliers are involved in the delivery of the project as possible.

The Queensland Government has this week approved the construction of a $2 billion rail corridor to open up mining projects in the Galilee Basin.

With a number of major projects in planning stages, including Hancock Coal’s Alpha Mine (generating 2,500 jobs at peak of construction and 1,500 during operation), Warratah Coal (creating 6,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs), Galilee Coal Project (expected to employ 1,500), and BMA Coal’s projects (expected to employ more than 1,000 during operation), the new Hancock Rail Corridor has been approved as infrastructure of significance.

The $1.865bn Argyle Underground Project is a 60Mt underground extension of the existing open pit operations, The block cave mine extends the life of the Argyle mine out to at least 2019.