australia's identified mineral resources 2004 - Geoscience Australia

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:
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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).
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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