Eight year behind schedule, and billions of dollars in debt, Adani’s Carmichael coal mine is operating, but not as planned. 

In 2022, Wangan and Jagalingou Cultural Custodians  marked a year standing their ground at Waddananggu (‘the talking’) – an ongoing ceremony and sovereignty camp on their ancestral lands next to Adani’s mine. Custodians maintain that Adani does not have free, prior, and informed consent for their mine, and have vowed to maintain their presence on Country, asserting their human rights to practice their culture and protect the environment and cultural heritage from destruction by Adani. You can find out more about their fight here. 

In 2010, Adani spent billions buying the Carmichael mining rights and the coal port at Abbot Point. It planned to open Australia’s biggest ever coal mine in 2014 and a coal port on the Great Barrier Reef. But it didn’t count on Australia’s biggest ever social movement rising to take them on. In 2021, Adani began mining some coal at the Carmichael mine, but there’s a big difference between what Adani planned and what it has now. 

Over 110 major companies have refused to work on Adani’s mine, including over 40 insurance companies. Adani haven’t been able to find a single bank willing to provide direct finance to the project, forcing Adani to prop it up themselves through inter-company loans. Adani’s mine is being run by second-rate contractors who have never run a project like this before, and workers are complaining of blatant safety oversights, mistreatment and terrible management. Adani are struggling to find insurance coverage - further raising the risks of the project.Read more about Adani’s failed plans here.