Sequestration of Carbon from Soil Carbon QLD1

Sequestration of Carbon from Soil Carbon QLD1 is a soil carbon project located in the Burdekin region 55km southeast of Townsville in Queensland. It was registered in June 2025 and initially covered an area of 1,838.63 hectares.

Soil carbon projects under the Measurement and Models methodology involve introducing new, eligible agricultural management practices to increase the amount of organic carbon stored in the soil. This carbon sequestration must be verified by physically measuring and modeling soil carbon levels over time.

The Burdekin region is located in the dry tropics and is renowned as a major agricultural hub, particularly for heavily irrigated sugarcane farming and horticulture. The local soils are diverse, ranging from sandy alluvial plains near the delta to heavier, structurally complex clay soils further inland.

This project increases carbon in the agricultural soil system by applying gypsum to manage sodic or magnesic soils, applying synthetic or non-synthetic fertilizers to address material deficiencies, and undertaking new irrigation. It is operated by Rio Tinto Energy Services, reflecting the global mining giant's recent investments in land-based nature solutions and agricultural offset platforms to complement structural abatement and meet its 2030 climate targets. Additionally, a variation was made to the project on 30 March 2026, which removed some of the originally listed areas from the project bounds.