Maules Creek Coal Mine

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

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Maules Creek Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Boggabri, New South Wales, Australia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Maules Creek Coal Mine	Boggabri, New South Wales, Australia	-30.562606, 150.11498 (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	–	2015	2034 (planned)

Table 3: Operation details

Capacity (Mtpa)	Production (Mtpa)	Year of Production	Mine Type	Mining Method	Mine Size (km2)	Mine Depth (m)	Workforce Size
13	10.5	2024	Surface	Open Pit	16	300	832

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
399	2024	542	Gunnedah	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
Maules Creek Joint Venture [100.0%]	Whitehaven [75%]; Itochu [15%]; J Power [10%]	Australia, Japan, Japan

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

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
ROM	–	12.06	9.69	8	9.5	11.22	9.55	10.5	–

Expansion/Extension

Table 7: Project status

* Added capacity of a coal mine refers to the enhancement in the mine's production capabilities beyond its initial production capacity.

Status	Status Detail	Project Type	Project Phase	Added Capacity (Mtpa)*	Start Year
Proposed	Pre-Permit	Extension	–	–	–

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 8: 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
–	–	–	​	–
0.030750000000000003	2.55225	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 8: 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
–	–	–	​	–
0.031	2.552	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 Maules Creek coal mine is a surface mine, operated by Whitehaven Coal, near Boggabri, New South Wales, Australia. The mine is the outcome of the proposed Maules Creek coal project. The mine is operated by Whitehaven Coal, as part of the Maules Creek coal project.

In July 2020, the New South Wales Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) charged Whitehaven Coal for taking water without an access licence over three years between 2016 and 2019 at Maules Creek. The NRAR said it had started to prosecute Whitehaven in the Land and Environment Court.

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
M0065.B1	mine boundary	surface	Maules Creek mine boundary	extracted	2021-09-10 00:00:00
M0065.P1	other	preparation plant	coal preparation plant	extracted	2023-11-01 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 15, 2025

ID	Notes
M0065.B1	Section 2.2 Impact Calculations on page 11 of Disturbance Limits Approach: Maules Creek Coal Mine from September 10 2021, https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://whitehavencoal.com.au/Documentations/Maules%20Creek%20Mine/Approvals/Environmental%20Protection%20and%20Biodiversity%20Conservation%20(EPBC)/MCC-EPBC-Condition%206%20Analysis.pdf?v=1695726601, describes the mine's footprint and how it is expected to change as it is cleared in preparation for mining for year 5 (2018), year 10 (2023) and years 15-21 (2028-2034). This footprint is shown in Figure 2.1 on page 13 shows the footprint. This footprint matches the Maules Creek Project Surface Development Extent shown in Figure 2 on page 11 of MAULES CREEK COAL MINE 2019 ANNUAL REVIEW from 3/2020, https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://whitehavencoal.com.au/Documentations/Maules%20Creek%20Mine/Environmental%20Management,%20Monitoring%20&%20Compliance/Annual%20Reviews/MCC-Annual%20Review%202019.pdf. The mine boundary is the mine's surface development extent as it extends out to 2034. Visual inspection of satellite imagery from 11/2023 shows possible development of the surface in the 2028-2034 region. The area of the boundary is 21 sq km.
M0065.P1	Identified visually from 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.