The company is also pushing to get final approvals by the Queensland government in 2011.
Premier Anna Bligh has asked for resource projects to use 100% Australian contractors where possible.
Palmer also confirmed as many as 600 Chinese engineers and professionals would be needed for China First.
“In Western Australia, in our projects there, we've had something like 10 per cent who are Chinese people on site,” Palmer was quoted as saying in The Australian.
“We've had 7000 workers, we've had about seven or eight hundred Chinese engineers who are directing the work. It would probably work out something like that [in Queensland].”
The China First project will be constructed by the Metallurgical Corporation of China.
MCC will subcontract the building of a 495km standard gauge, heavy haul railway line to a new coal terminal at Abbot Point near Bowen to China Railway Engineering and Construction.
Port construction has been contracted to China Port and Communications.
The mine and associated infrastructure will create 6000 jobs during construction and 1500 during operation.
It is expected that many of the jobs will be offered on a fly-in, fly-out basis because of the lack of facilities in the nearby town of Alpha.
Palmer said the company had signed its first cultural heritage management plan (CHMP) with the Jangga People, who have a claim to approximately 150km of the rail project.
“This is a major landmark for the China First project,” Palmer said.
“The agreement allows for Waratah Coal and the Jangga People to move forward with the refinement of the railway corridor.
“The CHMP provides for the project to proceed in the Jangga People’s area while ensuring that Aboriginal cultural heritage is identified, managed and protected appropriately.”
Palmer said Waratah Coal had been holding a series of community meetings throughout the year as part of the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project, which is pending final Queensland government approvals.
“Opening a new coal region in the Galilee Basin will be of enormous benefit to Queensland and the entire nation,” he said.
“It will create billions of dollars in exports and thousands of jobs for Queenslanders.”
