In the first day of a legal bid to stop Adani’s $16.5bn Carmichael coalmine, court told the Queensland government is investigating whether material was removed without permission The Queensland government is investigating mining firm Adani over whether it removed material from a quarry without permission, it has emerged on the first day of a legal bid to stop the $16.5bn Carmichael coalmine. Llewellyn Lezar, head of mining operations at Adani, told Queensland’s land court that the company has “communicated” with the state government over its actions in the Red Hill quarry. Lezar said Adani had taken minerals from the same quarry in 2013, only for it to emerge that “we didn’t have a permit for the actual use of the material”. No fine was paid but Adani had to pay for the material and the cost of the investigation. A spokesman for Queensland’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (Daf) said it was currently “gathering information” about the removal of 5,580 tonnes of state-owned quarry material. “Daf is presently in the initial stages of an investigation to determine whether or not Adani was authorised to remove and use this quarry material,” he said. “This quarry material is low-grade road construction type material.” The spokesman said that if the allegations are proven, Adani could be fined or prosecuted, but it was “unlikely that a breach of this nature and extent would adversely affect Adani’s future ability to obtain authorisation to remove state-owned quarry material”. Adani has been taken to court by environment group Coast and Country, which wants to halt the construction of the Carmichael mine in central Queensland. The mine, which has already been approved by the federal government, would extract up to 60m tonnes of coal a year and spread over an area of 280sq km, making it Australia’s largest coal project. Coast and Country claim the mine would adversely impact underground water flows, harm local flora and fauna and contribute significantly towards climate change through its emissions. Derec Davies, spokesman for Coast and Country, said: “These breaches are troubling. I’m concerned about the future of the million-year-old underground springs. It raises concern about Adani’s ability to protect the springs. “This mine is clearly too risky and too dangerous.” The first day of legal argument on Tuesday saw Coast and Country’s lawyer Saul Holt claim that the mine would cause “species-threatening harm” to the endangered black-throated finch, and may dry up the nearby Doongmabulla Springs. However, Peter Ambrose, for Adani, said the company had a range of offset and management plans to deal with these impacts, adding an extra 30,999ha of habitat to compensate for the loss caused by the mine. Ambrose added that the mine could produce net economic benefits of up to $22.8bn. Adani would not comment further on the issue of the quarry material. The hearing will continue in the Queensland land court for the next four weeks