Maxwell Coal Mine
| This article is part of the Global Coal Mine Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor. |
| Sub-articles: |
| Related-articles: |
Maxwell Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Mine Name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Maxwell Coal Mine | Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia | -32.408098, 150.866626 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:
Project Details
Table 2: Project status
| Status | Status Detail | Project Type | Opening Year | Closing Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating | – | New | 2023 | 2047 (planned)[1] |
Table 3: Operation details
| Capacity (Mtpa) | Production (Mtpa) | Year of Production | Mine Type | Mining Method | Mine Size (km2) | Mine Depth (m) | Workforce Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8[1] | 0.3[1] | 2024[1] | Underground | Bord and Pillar | – | 500* | 430[1] |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 141 | – | 770 | Hunter | Bituminous | Met | Terminal (Export) |
Table 5: Ownership and parent company
| Owner | Parent Company | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|
| Malabar Resources [100.0%] | Malabar Resources | Australia |
Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)
| ROM or Saleable | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROM | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0.3[1] | – |
Note: The above sections were automatically generated and are based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker August 2026 release.
Ownership Tree
This ownership tree is part of the Global Energy Ownership Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.
Background
The Maxwell coal mine (previously known as the "Drayton South coal project") is an underground coking coal mine in the Upper Hunter Valley, located 18 kilometres south-west of Musswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia.[2][3]
Construction of the mine began in May 2022. Operations commenced when first coal was produced in March 2023.[4] In February 2018, the Drayton South Exploratory License, along with its neighboring Drayton Open Cut mine which ceased operations in 2016, was sold by Anglo American to Malabar Coal.[3][5]
Anglo American spent five years attempting to gain approval for an open-cut mine on the site so they could continue their Hunter Valley operations as their Drayton mine had exhausted its coal reserves. However, despite spending tens of millions of dollars on the project and rejigging their mine plans to reduce its size and visual impact, Anglo American was unable to convince the New South Wales Planning and Assessment Commission (PAC) to grant it approval, with the Commission consistently stating its impacts were too great on the thoroughbred studs and the entire Upper Hunter thoroughbred industry.[3]
Despite Anglo American's failure to develop the property, a Gateway Application for the site was made by Maxwell Ventures (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malabar Resources and the owner/operator of the project in its early stages) in summer 2018. In September 2019, the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment requested that Malabar prepare and submit a Submissions Report for the project.[6]
In January 2021, the mine received the "go-ahead" from the New South Wales Independent Planning Commission, but was required to meet 169 conditions prior to permitting.[7]
In May 2022, the mine began construction ($158.74m of which was provided by U.S. financing). [8] The company is relying on $158.74m USD primary financing.[8] First coal was produced just 10 months later in March 2023.[4]
The Maxwell mine is estimated to produce coal for 26 years.[6] Transport of product coal to Australian markets or to the Port of Newcastle for export will be via the existing Antiene Rail Spur and Main Northern Railway, or via conveyor to the Bayswater and/or Liddell Power Stations.[9]
Maxwell Solar Farm
Malabar plans to offset 100% of the energy consumption of Maxwell Mine through solar generation at its approved Maxwell Solar Farm.[10]
- Operator: PIMS Mining[11]
- Owner: Malabar Resources
- Location: 18 km south-west of Musswellbrook, Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia
- GPS Coordinates: -32.433479, 150.824735 (exact)[12]
- Status: Operating[4]
- Production Capacity: 8 million tonnes per annum[5]
- Total Resource: 770 million tonnes[13]
- Mineable Reserves: 148 million tonnes[9]
- Coal Type: Bituminous (Metallurgical)
- Mine Size:
- Mine Type: Underground (bord-and-pillar and longwall mining)[14]
- Start Year: 2023[4]
- Source of Financing:
Opposition
The Project would result in the direct clearance of approximately 152.8 hectares of known and potential habitat for the Striped Legless Lizard.[15]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M0066.B1 | mine boundary | underground | Maxwell coal mine boundary | extracted | 2022-03-31 00:00:00 |
| M0066.P1 | ventilation system | vent | Ventilation shaft | extracted | 2024-10-01 00:00:00 |
| M0066.P2 | other | adit or drift | Mine access drift | extracted | 2019 (source date from figure 3-5) |
| M0066.P3 | other | adit or drift | Mine access drift | extracted | 2019 (source date from figure 3-5) |
Table SMP2: Coal mine boundaries and methane sources data (continued)
| ID | Notes |
|---|---|
| M0066.B1 | Page 2 of ANNUAL REVIEW 2021 MAXWELL UNDERGROUND COAL MINE PROJECT, https://web.archive.org/web/20240701220242/https://minedocs.com/23/Malabar-AREV-12312021.pdf, dated March 31 2022, lists the mine's mining leases A173, CL229, CL395, ML1531, ML1820, and ML1822. These are shown in Figure 2. Maxwell UG Project boundaries, on page 15. Mining lease polygons were extracted from the Geological Survey NSW GeoServer web feature service https://web.archive.org/web/20250427032655/https://www.resources.nsw.gov.au/geological-survey/products-and-data/gis-web-services. The area of the boundary is 45 sq km. |
| M0066.P1 | Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery. |
| M0066.P2 | Identified using figure 3-5 pg 14 of MAXWELL PROJECT Project Description SECTION 3, https://web.archive.org/web/20250327204928/https://minedocs.com/23/Maxwell-EIS-Project-Description-2019.pdf and located using Google Earth Pro satellite imagery. |
| M0066.P3 | Identified using figure 3-5 pg 14 of MAXWELL PROJECT Project Description SECTION 3, https://web.archive.org/web/20250327204928/https://minedocs.com/23/Maxwell-EIS-Project-Description-2019.pdf and located using Google Earth Pro satellite imagery. |
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.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 https://web.archive.org/web/20260707054137/https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/parliamentary-business/research-and-library/research-publications-data. Archived from the original (PDF) on 07 July 2026.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Maxwell Underground", Malabar Coal website, Archived from the original on 26 February 2020.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Louise Nichols, "Drayton South coal project becomes Maxwell Ventures under its new ownership", The Singleton Argus, Archived from the original on 16 June 2018.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Production from the Maxwell Underground Mine Commences", Malaber Resources website, 23 March 2023.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 ANNUAL REVIEW 2021 MAXWELL UNDERGROUND COAL MINE PROJECT, Mining Data Online, accessed May 2023.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Malabar Coal, "Maxwell Project Submissions Report", page 1, Malabar Coal website, 20 November 2019.
- ↑ Malabar gets green light for Hunter Valley coal mine, Australian Mining, January 6, 2021
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Projects, IJGlobal, accessed Oct 2022
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Malabar Coal, "Maxwell Project Submissions Report", page 4, Malabar Coal website, 20 November 2019.
- ↑ "Maxwell Underground Mine", Malabar Resources website, accessed May 2023.
- ↑ "Malabar awards contract to PIMS Mining for Bord and Pillar Operations", Malabar Resources website, 28 February 2023.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedmap - ↑ Malabar Coal, "Resources & Reserves", Malabar Coal website, 2018.
- ↑ Malabar Coal, "Maxwell Project Submissions Report", page 3, Malabar Coal website, 20 November 2019.
- ↑ Malabar Coal, "Maxwell Project Submissions Report", page 57, Malabar Coal website, 20 November 2019.
