(Thumbnail: Allied Trading Company)

"It's a coal project of mammoth proportions."

Palmer: "Australia's largest export contract, certainly the biggest one ever in Queensland history." (CNN)

An Australian mining magnate has made a reported $60 billion agreement with a Chinese power company.  Under the contract, the Australian company will export 30 million tons of coal per year over the next 20 years. While the project will create jobs, critics say it will come at the cost of killing the environment.

CCTV provides context behind the extensive project.

"It will include 4 underground mines, 2 service mines, plus... processing facilities.  It will be linked to a coal terminal on the Queensland coast by a new railway line.  The project is still waiting final approval by the Queensland government."

Bligh: "What this project means is direct jobs for some 7 and a half thousand people."

We're looking at coverage and perspectives from CCTV, The Motley Fool, the Australian Broadcasting Company, and PA Pundits.

One blogger from The Motley Fool says the massive scale of the agreement bodes well for coal markets in Australia and signifies strength in Chinese demand for industrial products.

"The Australian seaborne coal market is in full-blown bull-market mode, and China is removing the veil of uncertainty that has plagued commodity markets with the clearest indications to date that this new demand is here to stay."

Despite the economic advantages, the deal has infuriated conservation groups in Australia. In a CNN video from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Queensland premier Anna Bligh tried to appease these concerns.

Hutcheon: "The only way they know to provide jobs is to kill the planet."

Bligh: "The challenge for all of us around the world is to make coal a cleaner burning fuel."

"Anna Bligh says the government is putting money into that research and the new mine will be subject to strict environmental guidelines."

But one blogger on PA Pundits says this is pure hypocrisy from the Labor Party of Australia, which at the federal level has advocated legislation limiting Australia's CO2 emissions.

"This same State Labor Government keeps plugging the mantra of lowering emissions, and how we all need to make sacrifices at a personal level... They do this loudly and often and especially at election time... Then they proudly announce a deal that will export coal to China to run the power plants they so despise here at home."

So what do you think of this megadeal between Australia and China?  Is the Australian government turning its back on conservation in favor of jobs?

Writer: Tracy Pfeiffer

Producer: Newsy Staff