australia's identified mineral resources 2004 - Geoscience Australia

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AUSTRALIA’S IDENTIFIED MINERAL RESOURCES 2004 Loading a coal haul truck at the Moura mine, Bowen Basin, Queensland. (Anglo Coal Australia) Macarthur Coal: In August 2003 the $66 million Moorvale open-cut mine commenced with a capacity of 1.6 Mtpa. At Coppabella, the Transport Infrastructure Corridor (TIC) project was completed in December 2003. A feasibility study on the expansion of Coppabella by up to 1.0 Mtpa commenced in the third quarter. Peabody Energy: Construction started on the $195 million Eaglefield open-cut coal project in late 2003. Production will supplement coal from the nearby North Goonyella underground mine. Wesfarmers: Wesfarmers plans to spend $160 million to develop the Curragh North open-cut thermal coal mine. Production is scheduled to commence in late 2005 and will use the existing Curragh mine infrastructure and equipment. 22 INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS – NEW SOUTH WALES BHP Billiton: The US$410 million Mount Arthur open-cut mine commenced coal deliveries to Macquarie Generation in January 2003. The mine will be capable of producing up to 15 Mtpa of raw thermal coal when full production is achieved in 2006. Construction continued at the US$170 million Dendrobium mine during 2003. The underground longwall mine will produce 5.2 Mtpa of coking coal when operations start in mid-2005. The Dendrobium commencement is planned to coincide with closure of the Elouera Colliery. Coal and Allied: The Warkworth Extension received development approval in August 2003. This approval extends the life of the mine to 2020 and integrates the Warkworth and Mount Thorley operations with a new bridge over the Putty Road that is scheduled to be completed in early 2004. In October 2003, Coal and Allied submitted an Environmental Impact Statement for the integration of the West Pit (Howick) into the existing operations to maximise the resource recovery of the Hunter Valley Operations.
AUSTRALIA’S IDENTIFIED MINERAL RESOURCES 2004 Xstrata Coal: The Beltana punch longwall underground mine commenced production in August 2003 at a rate of 5 Mtpa. Beltana replaces the South Bulga underground mine which closed earlier in 2003. At Cumnock the underground mine closed in September 2003 and lower cost open-cut operations continued. The integration of Xstrata’s Ravensworth East and Mount Owen mines commenced in the latter half of 2003 and the conversion of the United mine from bord-and-pillar to longwall was completed. Anglo Coal: The new Kayuga underground longwall operation at the Dartbrook mine is scheduled to commence full production in mid-2004. The Saddlers Creek deposit is being proposed by Anglo to replace the West Pit at the Drayton open-cut mine. Centennial Coal: Construction of the $185 million Mandalong project continued during 2003. Longwall mining is scheduled to commence in 2005 at a rate of 4.5 Mtpa. At the Springvale mine Centennial plans to incrementally expand production from 2.2 to 3.3 Mtpa over the next four years. During 2003, Centennial successfully introduced a new ‘super place change’ mining unit at the Clarence mine. Centennial is undertaking a feasibility study into the development of the Anvil Hill open-cut thermal coal mine. Excel Coal: Studies are being undertaken to expand open-cut operations at Wambo from 4.2 Mtpa to 7.5 Mtpa and to recommence longwall operations. Excel won the contract to supply coal to Macquarie Generation from the Wilpinjong thermal coal deposit near Mudgee. An open-cut mine is planned to produce between 5 and 7 Mtpa by 2007. Gloucester Coal: The Bowens Road North mine replaced the depleted Stratford mine during 2003 and operations also commenced at the nearby Duralie mine. These new mines allow Gloucester’s total production to be maintained at 2 Mtpa until 2011. White Mining: Construction of the $110 million Ashton open-cut mine started in September 2003. The project is expected to commence in early 2004 at a rate of 2 Mtpa. Austral Coal: The $135 million Tahmoor North capital works program continued during 2003. Austral Coal expected longwall mining to commence in mid-2004 at a rate of up to 3.6 Mtpa. Newpac Pty Ltd: The Newpac No. 1 mine opened in February 2001 as the Nardell Colliery but production was suspended in October 2003. The mine reopened under new ownership and name in December 2003. OTHER PROPOSED DEVELOPMENTS Some proposed developments in NSW and Qld include: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Tasman underground thermal coal mine at a rate of 1.0 Mtpa using bord-and-pillar methods (Newcastle Coal Company), Belmont open-cut thermal coal mine with a capacity of 1.5 Mtpa (Whitehaven Coal Mining), Bickham open-cut thermal coal mine with a production of up to 2.5 Mtpa (Bloomfield Collieries), Sandy Creek underground thermal coal mine (Muswellbrook Coal Company), Vermont open-cut mine with a production of 2.5 Mtpa located about 15 km NE of Dysart (Bowen Basin Coal Pty Ltd), Glen Wilga $60 million 0.5 Mtpa open-cut thermal coal mine near Chinchilla (Qld) (Tarong Energy), Minerva thermal coal mine (Qld) costing $60 million for a capacity of 0.8 Mtpa (Felix Resources). 23 At Collie in Western Australia, thermal coal producers Griffin Coal and Wesfarmers are proposing to construct power stations adjacent to their mines. In South Australia NRG Flinders is planning an expansion of thermal coal production from 3 to 3.8 Mtpa using existing equipment. During 2003 a new open-cut thermal coal mine opened at Cullenswood near St Marys in Tasmania. The Stage 6 expansion of the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (Qld) was completed in June 2003. The expansion included a new berth (Berth 3) and a new shiploader. These facilities have increased the terminals capacity from 45.5 to 56 Mtpa at a cost of $115 million. Prime Infrastructure has
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australia's identified mineral resources 2004 - Geoscience Australia

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