BHP Billiton has relocated more than 40 people from around Australia to work in the new head office for its global metallurgical coal operations in Brisbane.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh was on hand to officially open the office last week.
“Seventy people will be employed in this new office and more than 40 of them have transferred from other states,” she said.
“The shift is a welcome recognition of how BHP Billiton views Queensland and where we stand in its future.”
The office was previously based in Melbourne.
The company’s metallurgical coal business includes the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) operations in Queensland as well as BHP Mitsui Coal.
Together these produce more than 50 million tonnes of coal every year.
In Queensland, BMA manages the Blackwater, Broadmeadow, Goonyella Riverside, Peak Downs, Saraji, Norwich Park and Gregory Crinum mines in the Bowen Basin.
It also controls the Hay Point coal export terminal near Mackay.