BRISBANE, Australia, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- A report finds that if all 66 mining projects proceed in Australia's Queensland state, the resources and energy sector could require an additional 40,000 workers, another 5,000 megawatts of electricity and almost 200,000 mega-liters of water.
And Australia's Queensland state royalties would be boosted to almost 8 billion AU dollars (7.87 billion U.S. dollars) a year by 2020 if all the mining projects go ahead in the state, according to a study released on Tuesday by the Queensland Resources Council (QRC).
QRC Chief Executive Michael Roche said the 2020 Growth Outlook Study of the state's minerals and energy sector conducted by Australia's leading economics advisory practice Deloitte Access Economics in cooperation with QRC member companies was based on 66 resource sector projects either under study, committed or under construction.
Combined, the projects represent 142 billion AU dollars (139.71 billion U.S. dollars) in capital expenditure to 2020.
Roche said if all were to proceed, the state government would get an 8 billion AU dollars (7.87 billion U.S. dollars) annual boost in royalties by 2020 - almost three times the 2.8 billion AU dollars (2.75 billion U.S. dollars) banked in the 2010-11 financial year.
He said labor, water and electricity supply were the biggest hurdles to either slow the state's resources sector growth or prevent it from reaching its full potential.
