Property tycoon Kevin Seymour partners with Gina Rinehart in coal project

Queensland property tycoon Kevin Seymour has partnered with mining magnate Gina Rinehart to form a mining joint venture.

The two have partnered on a coal project in central Queensland where drilling is under way to test the extent of the reserves.

Seymour says it will be some time before extraction starts.

Seymour made his fortune in property but has recently been turning towards the resource sector.

Last year he set up Seymour Energy, which acquired mining exploration rights over areas in Queensland’s Galilee and Adavale basins.

Seymour recently backed out of plans to build his tower at 300 Queen Street in Brisbane.

"We are just looking at buying it, subdividing it and selling it off," Seymour told The Australian.

"Right at the moment, we are not that bullish on property -- we are treading very carefully.

"We've got seven coal exploration areas, four gas areas, and one oil area."

He says his current mining interests could total more than one billion tonnes of coal reserves.

"The potential worth is huge.”

He has interests at the Gilmore gas fields, Augathella, covering an area of more than 400,000 square kilometres.

"They could produce an enormous amount of gas," he says.

Seymour features on the BRW rich list with an estimated fortune of $585 million. Rinehart tops the list with an estimated fortune of $29.17 billion.