CapCoal Mine Complex

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CapCoal Mine Complex is an operating coal mine in Middlemount, Queensland, Australia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
CapCoal Mine Complex	Middlemount, Queensland, Australia	-22.990997, 148.580506 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

Loading map...

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	1981	–

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.

Capacity (Mtpa)	Production (Mtpa)	Year of Production	Mine Type	Mining Method	Mine Size (km2)	Mine Depth (m)	Workforce Size
11	8.403	2022	Underground & Surface	Mixed	340	60*	500

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt)	Year of Total Reserves Recorded	Total Resources (Mt)	Coalfield	Coal Type	Coal Grade	Primary Consumer/ Destination
160	2021	270	Bowen	Bituminous	Thermal & Met	–

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Capcoal	Anglo American [70%]; Mitsui Holdings [30%]	UK

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the GEM April 2024 Global Coal Mine Tracker dataset.

Background

The Capcoal Mining Complex is a group of surface and underground mines operated by Anglo American, near Middlemount in the Bowen Basin, Central Queensland, Australia. 

The complex is comprised of several mines, including opencast operations at Lake Lindsay and Oak Park; and underground operations at the Aquila Mine. Originally, the Capcoal complex consisted of two mines: Capcoal Open Cut (originally known as German Creek) and Grasstree Mine, which is an underground mining operation. Open cut coal mining started at German Creek mine in late 1981, while underground coal mining started at Southern Colliery in 1988. The current open cut operation consists of two mines, Lake Lindsay and Oak Park. Open cut mining moved from Southern Colliery to Capcoal’s Oak Park lease in 2004, and the Lake Lindsay lease area in 2008 where it continues today. The underground mining operation is also made up of two mines: Grasstree and Aquila.

Anglo American commenced operating the Capcoal mine complex after acquiring Shell Coal assets in 2000. Construction of the Grasstree underground mine commenced in 2001 and first production was in 2002. As of 2022, Grasstree mine reached its end of life, closed, and was replaced by the re-opened Aquila Mine. The Aquila mine's re-development was approved by Anglo American in 2019. It will extend the life of the existing Capcoal underground operations by five years, to 2028.

• Operator: Anglo American
• Owners: Anglo American (70%), Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (30%)
• Location: 60 km south-west of Middlemount Township, and 120 km north-west of Emerald in the Bowen Basin, Central Queensland, Australia
• GPS Coordinates: -22.990997, 148.580506 (exact)
• Status: Operating
• Production: 3.4 million tonnes per annum (2022)
• Total Resource: 319.7 million tonnes (2022)
• Mineable Reserves: 120.4 million tonnes (2022)
• Coal Type: Hard coking and pulverized coal injection (PCI) coal
• Mine Size: 34,085 hectares
• Mine Type: Open cut & underground
• Workforce Size: 500+
• Start Year: 1981
• Source of Financing:

Mining Accidents

Several mining accidents have occurred at the Capcoal mining complex. In 1990, Shane Slotosch died while “operating a Cat 966C front end loader cleaning out a drain along the highwall near the transport portal of Southern Colliery, German Creek Mine, Capricorn Coal, near Middlemount,” according to Mine Accidents & Disasters.

In 2014, electrician Paul McGuire died at Grasstree mine after breathing in “irrespirable and fatal” air from a “goaf,” according to The CQ News. In 2016, Anglo American pleaded guilty to failing its safety obligations and therefore causing McGuire’s death.

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.