Dawson Complex

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

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Dawson Complex is an operating coal mine in Moura, Queensland, Australia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Dawson Complex	Moura, Queensland, Australia	-24.6168211, 150.0504833 (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	–	1961	–

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
–	8.651	2025	Surface	Open Pit	308.75	60.0*	1300.0

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
97.0	2022	815.0	Bowen	Bituminous	Thermal & Met	Terminal (Export)

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
Dawson Joint Venture	Mitsui & Co Ltd [49.0%]; PT Delta Dunia Makmur Tbk	UK, USA

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

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
ROM	12.13	8.66	9.93	10.56	8.98	6.09	9.21	–	8.65

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
10.353	859.335	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 Dawson mine complex is an open cut mine located in the Dawson Valley, at the southern end of the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland, Australia.

The mine, which is owned by Anglo American and Mitsui Holdings, is made up of 3 operating pits: North, Central, and South. The Dawson mine complex has been operating since 1961, meaning it is one of the oldest coal mines in central Queensland. Anglo American acquired its interest in the mining complex in 2002 when Mitsui sold them 51%.

In 2007, the joint venture invested $1.1. billion to increase production rates by developing two new mining sites, Dawson South and Dawson North. Dawson North closed temporarily in March 2009 due to a worldwide decrease in the demand for coal, but it reopened again in late 2010. Dawson South expanded in 2012 to include new pits.

Up until 2013, Anglo American reported their annual production of saleable coal, which ranged from 7 - 9 million tonnes per year. However, post-2013, only production of metallurgical coal is readily available, which is about 4 million tonnes per year.

Coal from the mine is railed to the Port of Gladstone to be exported to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and India.

• Operator: Anglo American
• Owners: Joint venture between Anglo American (51%) and Mitsui Holdings (49%)
• Location: Near the townships of Moura, Banana and Theodore, approximately 12 kilometres east of Moura and 180 kilometres west of Gladstone in the Bowen Basin, Queensland.
• GPS Coordinates: -24.6168211,150.0504833 (exact)
• Status: Operating
• Production Capacity: 2.08 million tonnes (2022)
• Total Resource: 814.7 million tonnes (2022)
• Mineable Reserves: 97.3 million tonnes (67.9 Met, 29.4 Thermal; 2022)
• Coal Type: Coking & soft coking (Metallurgical & Thermal)
• Mine Size: 30,875 km2
• Mine Type: Open cut and high wall mining methods
• Start Year: 1961
• 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
M0033.B1	mine boundary	surface	Dawson Complex mine boundary	extracted	3/2024, 9/2024
M0033.P1	other	preparation plant	coal prep plant	extracted	2023-12-05 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 Jul 14, 2025

ID	Notes
M0033.B1	From the introduction on page 4 of Dawson Mine Supporting Information for Environmental Authority Amendment Environmental Authority EPML00565813 from 9/2024, https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://australia.angloamerican.com/~/media/Files/A/Anglo-American-Group-v5/Australia/landholder-information/Dawson%20Central%20and%20North/Part%202%20%20Application%20supporting%20document.pdf, Dawson Central and North Mine (DCN) consists of the following mining leases: ML 5591, ML 5592, ML 5593, ML 5596, ML 5597, ML 5598, ML 5599, ML 5600, ML 5601, ML 5603, ML 5604, ML 5606, ML 5607, ML 5611, ML 5630, ML 5643, ML 5644, ML 5646, ML 5650, ML 5656, ML 80032, ML 80034, ML 80070, ML 80142 and ML 80146, and the following exploration leases: EPC578, EPC894, EPC895, EPC988, EPC989, EPC1068, EPC1086. From Section 3.1 Dawson South Mine, paragraph 3 of Supporting information for the Dawson South Mine Environmental Assessment Report from 3/2024, pages 1-2, https://web.archive.org/web/20250714134814/https://australia.angloamerican.com/~/media/Files/A/Anglo-American-Group-v5/Australia/landholder-information/dawson-south/a-ea-amd-100627125-support-info.pdf, the mining operations of Dawson South mine are located within mining leases ML 5657, ML 80160 and ML 80161. The boundary is comprised of the above Dawson Central and North mine mining leases, and the Dawson South mine mining leases, but excludes the Moura seam gas pipeline lease ML 800032, and excludes the Dawson Central and North mine exploration leases. Petroleum leases PL 94, PL 1048 and PL 1049, and pipline leases PPL 182, PPL 61 and PPL 26 are colocated and overlapping along the western edge of the mine boundary and coal seam gas facilities are visible in the eastern area of the mine boundary that contains mining leases ML 5644 and ML 5599. Undeground coal mining stopped in 1994 at the Dawson mining complex. The area of the mine boundary is 308 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).
M0033.P1	Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.

Associated Coal Mine Methane Mitigation Projects

Some coal mines have installed infrastructure which can use and/or destroy some methane emissions associated with mining. In 2024, the Global Methane Initiative reported that this mine had a mitigation project associated with it. This methodology page describes how GEM classified these projects and linked them with coal mines in the Global Coal Mine Tracker.

Table MM1: Methane mitigation projects

Mitigation Project Name	Project Type	GMI Reported Status	GMI Reported Start Year
Dawson Mine Pipeline Injection - Australia	utilization	Operational	1996

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.