The Queensland Government has approved mining leases for the $21.7 billion Carmichael coal mine and rail project in the Galilee Basin.

Key points: Mining leases a major step forward for $21b project, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says

Mining leases a major step forward for $21b project, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says Adani said it aimed to start work in 2017

Adani said it aimed to start work in 2017 Queensland Government decision "appalling" in wake of severe coral bleaching, Greenpeace says

State Mines Minister Dr Anthony Lynham on Sunday approved the three individual mining leases about 160 kilometres north-west of Clermont for Indian company Adani.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was a major step forward for the project after "extensive government and community scrutiny".

"Some approvals are still required before construction can start and ultimately committing to the project will be a decision from Adani," she said.

Ms Palaszczuk (pictured with Adani CEO Jeyakumar Janakaraj) says the decision is a major step forward for the project. ( ABC News: Rachel Riga )

She said stringent controls would continue to protect the environment and the Great Barrier Reef, as well as the interests of landholders and traditional owners.

"We are talking about thousands and thousands of jobs - 5,000 jobs from this project during construction and another 4,500 during the peak of its operations - it means jobs for local people as well," she said.

But opponents, including Greenpeace, claim the mine could harm the reef.

Ms Palaszczuk said the Queensland Government was investing $100 million into protecting the Great Barrier Reef.

"We have placed nearly 200 strict environmental conditions on these three mining leases —I have now decided that the benefits outweigh those challenges," she said.

"We can have jobs and economic stimulus here in Queensland, but at the same time we can protect our important environmental assets.

"This Queensland Government is proud of its environmental record — no capital dredge spoil will be dumped on the Great Barrier Reef."

Another step forward for Carmichael mine

The mining leases needed to be approved before Adani's Carmichael coal project could go ahead.

The company reached a compensation agreement with a remaining landholder last month and has since been waiting for it to be assessed by the State Government.

Two court cases, from traditional owners and the Australian Conservation Foundation, are still ongoing.

Adani welcomed Sunday's decision, with the company saying in a statement it aimed to start work in 2017.

"The granting of a mining lease helps deliver the company certainty with respect to timelines, while moving to the next phase of the project, subject to the resolution of legal challenges by politically motivated activists," the statement said.

"Adani has consistently said that what is required for its projects to proceed is certainty on approvals.

"This key approval helps provide that with respect to Carmichael.

"The next phase of the project, following this key approval, will see a return to the pre-engineering work that had to be suspended in 2015 with the loss of certainty on approvals timelines that had occurred at that time.

"Concurrent with that, the company will continue to finalise second-tier approvals, with the clear aim of commencing construction in calendar year 2017."

'Appalling' decision, Greenpeace says

The Galilee Basin project has already been granted 16 permits at state and federal level, including six primary approvals.

But the mine and its associated rail and port projects have been marred by protracted legal challenges.

The project has received widespread criticism from environmental groups who say it will have catastrophic impacts for the Great Barrier Reef.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific spokeswoman Shani Tager said in a statement the State Government's decision was "appalling", and came as the Great Barrier Reef suffered severe coral bleaching.

"Coral scientists, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and even the Queensland Government have acknowledged the severity of this latest bleaching," she said.

"The federal and Queensland environment ministers are wringing their hands, despairing over the state of the Great Barrier Reef, yet at the same time they are paving the way for the nation's biggest coal mine - a development that can only harm the reef.

"Protecting the reef and approving the Carmichael mining lease are diametrically opposed - you cannot do both."