Aquila Resources has obtained a court injunction to stop a management meeting that would have enabled Brazilian mining giant Vale to acquire the Australian miner’s 50 per cent stake a joint coking coal project.

The $1.25 billion Eagle Downs project in north Queensland could produce an average 4.5 million tonnes a year of coal for its first 10 years but work has been delayed for three years.

The joint venture partners have clashed over which port to use to ship coal from Eagle Downs.

The partners were due to meet on September 17 to vote on development of the mine.

Aquila opposes Vale’s preferred option of developing the mine before beginning construction of port and rail links.

Vale says Aquila’s preference of beginning work on both would delay production by a year.

Aquila also accuses the Brazilian miner of not acting in “good faith” and delaying the project to weaken Aquila’s cashflow to force it to sell its stake in Eagle Downs at below value.

Queensland Supreme Court judge Peter Applegarth this week said Vale had breached its joint venture agreement “to act in good faith and in the best interests of the JV”.

An Aquila spokesman described the decision as a victory for commonsense that a “port-rail solution must be secured” to deliver coal to customers.

“The judgment highlights there are real question marks around Vale’s motives in pushing for a decision in absence of a rail-port solution,” he told AAP.

Justice Applegarth heard that from late 2009 Vale employees had stopped dealing with Aquila employees, apart from formal meetings.

Vale had provided no evidence disputing Aquila’s claims that it was not acting in the JV’s best interests, he said.

Vale general manager of coal development Chris Coombes said it was no secret Vale wanted to control 100 per cent of Eagle Downs but denied it was not acting in the best interests of the project.

Aquila was offered an allocation at the Abbot Point coal terminal in north Queensland but Vale refused to agree, so the JV missed out.

Mr Coombes said the costs of using Abbot Point were prohibitive and Vale’s plan was to start producing coal and generating earnings quicker than Aquila.

“We’ve picked the option with the best return and shortest period of time to get coal to market,” he told AAP.

He said that although he was disappointed with the court decision, the company was yet to have “its day in court” and pointed out that Aquila would be liable for damages if Vale won the case at trial.

Shares in Aquila finished up four cents at $6.07.