Amidst the reported presence of cancer-causing chemicals on Queensland's emerging liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal seam gas (CSG) operations, a new research apparently showed that despite the risks it brings, the state's mining industry hauled in an estimated $3.8 billion in tax revenues for the past financial year.

According to the report released by the Queensland Resources Council on Wednesday, the mining sector, which includes the LNG and CSG segments of the industry, had generated close to 300,000 jobs for residents of the state.

That figure alone, according to Eidos Institute and Central Queensland University, which conducted the research works of the report, constitutes for up to 21 percent of the state economy and directly impacts the Australian economic growth.

The report revealed that some 130,000 employments were directly and indirectly created by Queensland's mining industry, resulting to the payment of up to $4.9 billion in salaries and wages for workers that toiled under the sector.

For the benefit of the state government and its constituents, the new research showed that the mining industry contributed an estimated $3.8 billion to the state treasury in financial year 2008/09 while the sector's mining activities resulted to the injection of some $17.4 billion in Queensland's economy, mostly in the form of goods and services acquired and community contributions.

The study was made public as new discoveries of benzene traces were reported on explorations sites by Arrow Energy, Origin Energy and Australia Pacific, which all maintain ongoing LNG and CSG projects in central-west Queensland.

Farmers and environmental activists around the areas near the Surat and Bower basins have called on both the state and federal governments to implement a moratorium on all mining activities in the area, fearing that the sector's activities could contaminate ground water reserves and wreak havoc on the areas' agri-business operations.

The state government, however, maintains that such action could paralyse the economy as Queensland Premier Anna Bligh asserted that risks being posed by the mining industry could be effectively managed through strict regulations.