Australia's Resourcehouse said on Saturday it had secured a deal worth $60 billion to supply coal to Chinese power stations over a 20-year period, calling it Australia's largest ever export contract.

Company Chairman Clive Palmer said that coal mined in Queensland state from a major new project would be sold to China Power International Development Limited, a unit of China Power Investment Corporation (CPI).

'This deal with CPI is Australia's biggest ever export contract,' Palmer said in a statement.

Executive Director Phil McNamara, who helped broker the deal, said the contract with CPI was to supply 30 million tonnes annually over 20 years, with an approximate value of $3 billion per year.

The announcement comes ahead of an expected IPO in Hong Kong in March which is thought likely to raise up to $3 billion for Resourcehouse.

The coal will come from a new $8 billion mining project in central Queensland, under development by Resourcehouse subsidiary China First, which will establish a second major thermal coal mining region in Australia, alongside the Hunter Valley in New South Wales state.

China Power International Development Chairwoman Li Xiaolin welcomed the deal, saying its power plants mainly supplied electricity to the eastern, central and northern China grids.

'The project is opening up a massive new coal resource and the CPI Group of companies are pleased to be involved in the project,' she said.

The China First project will be located in the Galilee Basin region near Alpha, west of the town of Emerald, and will include four underground mines, two surface mines, plus associated handling and processing facilities.-Reuters