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Moolarben Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Mine Name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Moolarben Coal Mine | Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia | -32.2828165, 149.7591596 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:
Project Details
Table 2: Project status
| Status | Status Detail | Project Phase | Opening Year | Closing Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating | – | Stage 1 | 2010 | – |
Table 3: Operation details
| Capacity (Mtpa) | Production (Mtpa) | Year of Production | Mine Type | Mining Method | Mine Size (km2) | Mine Depth (m) | Workforce Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34[1] | 16.9[2] | 2022[2] | Underground & Surface | Mixed | 110 | 150[3] | 860[2] |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 194[4] | 2022[4] | 1030[4] | Western | Subbituminous | Thermal | Port of Newcastle |
Table 5: Ownership and parent company
| Owner | Parent Company | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|
| Moolarben Coal Operations | Yancoal Australia Ltd [95%]; Kores Australia Moolarben Coal Pty Limited [5%] | Australia, China |
Expansion/Extension
Table 6: Project status
| Status | Status Detail | Project Type | Project Phase | Added Capacity (Mtpa)* | Start Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proposed[5] | Pre-Permit | Extension | – | 9[5] | 2025 (planned)[5] |
Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the GEM April 2024 Global Coal Mine Tracker dataset.
Background
The Moolarben coal mine (Moolarben Coal Complex) is an opencast and underground mine located 40 kilometers east of Mudgee, in the Upper Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia.[6]
Moolarben Coal Operations Pty. Ltd., a subsidiary of Yancoal Australia, operates the Moolarben mine, which is a joint venture of Yancoal (95%) and Kores Australia Moolarben Coal Pty Ltd (5%).[7]
Moolarben's first open-cut mine opened in 2010. Its first underground mine started operations in 2012. At first, the project produced 8 million tonnes and 4 million tonnes of thermal coal, respectively, from the open cut and underground mines. The projected cost is $405 million including for the coal preparation plant.
The project employed 220 people during construction and 300 when operating.[8]
According to the Yancoal Australia website, the company has an 80% interest in the Moolarben project as a result of its purchase of Felix Resources Ltd. "Moolarben is an unincorporated Joint-Venture with Sojitz Corporation of Japan (10%) — a consortium consisting of Korea Resource Corporation (KORES), Korea Electric Power Company (KEPCO) and four of its generator subsidiaries, Kosep, Komipo, Kowepo and Kospo plus Hanwha Corporation Limited (a total of 10%). Yancoal Australia owns 80% of the project and is the manager/operator of the project.[7]
Yancoal stated that the "Moolarben resource has approximately 610 million tonnes of high quality Open-Cut and Underground thermal coal with a capacity to produce up to 12 million tonnes per annum." Construction of the project commenced in early 2008 with the first shipments of coal set to be railed to the powet of Newcastle in early 2010. Yancoal states that "capacity of the mine will be increased in stages" as the new Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group coal terminal in Newcastle is commissioned. "Once sufficient port capacity is available at Newcastle it is the intention of the joint venture to commence development of an underground mine in the lower “D” section of the Moolarben lease in an area which is uneconomical for open-cut mining. The underground mine will be a longwall operation," Yancoal states.[7]
Moolarben has multiple pits, and at full development, will comprise four open cut mines (OC1, OC2, OC3 and OC4), three longwall underground mines (UG1, UG2 and UG4), and mining-related infrastructure (including coal processing and transport facilities).[9]
- Operator: Moolarben Coal Operations[7]
- Owners: Yancoal Coal (95%), Kores Australia Moolarben Coal Pty Ltd (5%)[7]
- Location: 40 km East of Mudgee in the Upper Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia
- GPS Coordinates: -32.2828165, 149.7591596 (exact)
- Status: Operating
- Production: 16.9 million tonnes per annum (2022)[10]
- Total Resource: 1.03 billion tonnes (2022)[11]
- Mineable Reserves: 194 million tonnes (155 Mt opencast; 39 Mt underground)[11]
- Coal Type: Thermal
- Mine Size:
- Mine Type: Surface & underground[7]
- Mining Method:
- Start Year: 2010 (surface); 2017 (underground)[7]
- Source of Financing:
Mine Expansion
In 2019, Moolarben was granted It has a production capacity of up to 3 million tonnes ROM.[12] This means extend the boundaries of the stage one and two open cut pits and produce an additional three million tonnes of ROM coal each year for a total of 20 million tonnes of run-of-mine (ROM) coal from its open cut operations every year until 2038.[12]
Mine Expansion Details
- Status: Operating
- Capacity: +3 million tonnes per annum[12]
- Mineable Reserves:
- Start Year: 2019
- Source of Financing:
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
- ↑ (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20240209181741/https://www.moolarbencoal.com.au/icms_docs/337533_2022-annual-review.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 09 February 2024.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20240205195945/https://www.yancoal.com.au/content/Document/230426_ESG%2520Report_Design%2520Format_FINAL.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 05 February 2024.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20240309042431/https://majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/prweb/PRRestService/mp/01/getContent?AttachRef=MP05_0117-PA-35!20220714T062028.062%2520GMT. Archived from the original on 09 March 2024.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20240125064721/https://www.yancoal.com.au/content/Document/Yancoal%202022%20Annual%20Report.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 January 2024.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 (PDF) https://www.iesc.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-02/iesc-advice-moolarben-coal-complex-oc3-extension-2023-140.pdf.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ Yancoal, Moolarben: About Us, Yancoal Moolarben Coal website, accessed June 21, 2020.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Yancoal Australia, "Moolarben", Yancoal Australia website, accessed August 2010.
- ↑ Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, "Minerals and energy: Major development projects", April 2010. (Pdf). The list is also available in Excel format here.)
- ↑ "Licences & Approvals", Yancoal Moolarben Mine website, accessed March 2023.
- ↑ Full Year Financial Result 2022, page 43, Yancoal, 27 Feb. 2023.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Yancoal, Coal Resources and Coal Reserves statement for year ending 31 December 2022, Yancoal, page 3, accessed 27 Feb. 2023.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Vanessa Zhou, Moolarben Coal to Expand Operations with NSW Approval, Australian Mining, 20 June 2019.
