Adani mining boss Lucas Dow has stepped down from his role as head of the company building a controversial coal project in Queensland.
Mr Dow will bow out as chief executive officer and take up a position as a director on Adani Australia's board, the firm said in a statement on Friday.
Adani project director David Boshoff has been appointed chief executive and will be based in Townsville.
The company is building a 10 million-tonne-a-year thermal coal mine in the Galilee Basin, which Mr Dow has previously flagged as the first phase of a project that could expand to six times its size.
Adani downsized the project in November 2018 from a 60 million-tonne-a-year mine, costing $16.5 billion, to a 10-to-15 million tonne-a-year mine, costing about $2 billion.
Permits remain in place for a bigger development, but it is understood the company has no firm plans to expand it to that level.
It is also building a rail line with an initial 40 million tonne-a-year capacity that would be open to other companies if they get the tick of approval to mine the coal-rich region.
Australian Associated Press
