Daunia Coal Mine

This article is part of the Global Coal Mine Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

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Daunia Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Coppabella, Queensland, Australia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Daunia Coal Mine	Coppabella, Queensland, Australia	-22.0410919, 148.2702015 (exact)

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

Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	2013	2040 (planned)

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
–	5.848	2025	Surface	Open Pit	–	60*	750

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
76	2024	115	Bowen	Bituminous	Thermal & Met	–

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Note: To access more comprehensive data on energy ownership, please visit the Global Energy Ownership Tracker.

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Whitehaven Coal Ltd [100.0%]	Whitehaven Coal [100%]	Australia

Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
ROM	5.99	6.09	5.45	5.51	4.81	3.65	5.07	–	5.85

Reported Methane Emissions Data

Global Energy Monitor collates facility-scale methane emissions data reported by government and company sources collected in a systematic fashion. This mine is associated with the following methane emissions reports:

Table 7: Methane emissions

Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions (thousand tonnes CO2 equivalent)	Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions (thousand tonnes CH4)	Year of Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions	Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions (thousand tonnes) Reference	Reference type
1.462964285714286	121.4260357	2024-25	​	national government data

Note: The above sections were automatically generated and are based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker August 2026 release.

Reported Methane Emissions Data

Global Energy Monitor collates facility-scale methane emissions data reported by government and company sources collected in a systematic fashion. This mine is associated with the following methane emissions reports:

Table 7: Methane emissions

Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions (thousand tonnes CO2 equivalent)	Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions (thousand tonnes CH4)	Year of Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions	Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions (thousand tonnes) Reference	Reference type
1.463	121.426	2024-25	​	national government data

Note: The above sections were automatically generated and are based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker May 2026 release.

Ownership Tree

This ownership tree is part of the Global Energy Ownership Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

Background

The Daunia coal mine is a metallurgical open-cut coal mine in Queensland that commenced operations in 2013. It is owned by a 50:50 joint venture between BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi, known as BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance. Daunia Mine was first proposed in 2008 and came into operation by 2013, though it was originally supposed to be in operation by 2010.

Upon opening, Daunia had an estimated mine-life of about 30 years, and a production capacity of 4.5 million tonnes per annum. In addition to the 4.5 mtpa mine, a coal handling preparation plant is present at the site.

Daunia mine is one of four components of the BMA Bowen Basin Coal Growth Project. The others are Caval Ride mine, Goonyella Riverside mine expansion, and the Moranbah airport, which has since been discontinued.

The mine is located on the traditional lands of the Barada Barna people.

• Operator: BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA)
• Owners: BHP Billiton (50%), Mitsubishi (50%)
• Location: 30 km south-east of Moranbah, and about 170 km south-west of Mackay in Queensland.
• GPS Coordinates: -22.0410919, 148.2702015 (exact)
• Status: Operating
• Production: 2.9 million tonnes (2022)
• Total Resource: 120 million tonnes (2022)
• Mineable Reserves: 86 million tonnes (2022)
• Coal Type: Semi-hard coking coal (Metallurgical & Thermal)
• Mine Size:
• Mine Type: Open cut
• Start Year: 2013
• Source of Financing:

Coal Mine Boundaries and Methane Sources

Global Energy Monitor researchers have identified coal mine boundary/boundaries and potential sources of coal mine methane (CMM) for this mine. These research results can be used to drive CMM attribution and mitigation efforts, particularly when combined with remotely sensed methane plume locations and mine ownership data. Explore the results with the embedded map at the top of this page by clicking on the mine boundary polygon or the CMM placemarkers to reveal more details. A detailed description of this research can be found in Coal Mine Boundaries and Methane Sources. This data is also available as a downloadable companion dataset to the Global Coal Mine Tracker and the Global Methane Emitters Tracker.

Table SMP1: Coal mine boundaries and methane sources data

ID	Mine feature category	Mine feature subcategory	Description	Coordinates precision	Data source date
M0032.B1	mine boundary	surface	Daunia mine boundary	extracted	2023-10-18 00:00:00
M0032.P1	other	preparation plant	Coal handling and processing plant in ML 70116 (Red Mountain)	extracted	2023-10-18 00:00:00

Table SMP2: Coal mine boundaries and methane sources data (continued)

Coal mine boundaries and methane sources were last researched for this mine on Sep 03, 2025

ID	Notes
M0032.B1	Table 17: Daunia tenure, on page 61 of ASX ANNOUNCEMENT "Whitehaven Coal to acquire 100% of BMA’s Daunia and Blackwater coal mines through a compelling and transformational acquisition", published 18 October 2023, https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://whitehavencoal.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/WHC_Acquisition_of_Daunia_and_Blackwater_mines_announcement.pdf, shows the mining leases for Daunia mine : ML 1781 (Daunia), ML 70115 (Daunia East), ML 70116 (Red Mountain). Figure 3: Primary tenures and layout of the Daunia Mine, on page 10 illustrates these mining lease boundaries and the mining areas and future potential mining contained within. Note that ML 70116 contains the coal handling and process plant but no apparent mining pits. The boundary includes the three mining leases. The area of the boundary is 34 sq km. Mining lease geometries were extracted from the Queensland Mining Leases dataset (https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/queensland-mining-and-exploration-tenure-series/resource/f87794b8-7b9a-4732-89bb-56ccb2228d27).
M0032.P1	Referred to on page 10 of https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://whitehavencoal.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/WHC_Acquisition_of_Daunia_and_Blackwater_mines_announcement.pdf and visually identified with Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.

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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.