Narrabri Coal Mine

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The Narrabri coal mine is an underground coal mine near Narrabri in New South Wales, Australia. It is operated by Narrabri Coal Operations Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Whitehaven Coal) and owned by the Narrabri Mine Joint Venture, of which Whitehaven is the majority shareholder.

As of 2022, the mine's "Stage 3" expansion to increase production to 11 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) has been approved.[1]

Location

The map below shows the exact location of mine, located 25 kilometres south-east of Narrabri, in New South Wales, Australia.

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Background

The project was commissioned in 2010, initially producing 1.5 million tonnes of thermal coal in 2012; it cost $227 million to construct.[2]

In August 2020, Whitehaven Coal was charged by the New South Wales Resources Regulator with 16 breaches of the state's mining laws at the Narrabri mine and the company faces up to US$17 million in fines as a result. The charges relate to an exploration licence which was suspended in August 2019 as well as alleged breaches including the construction of unauthorised tracks, drilling of bores in contravention of approval conditions and the failure to rehabilitate drill sites.[3] The charges will be brought to the Land and Environment Court on September 18. The Australian Financial Review reported that Whitehaven's share price dropped by three percent to $1.36, its lowest point since 2016, on the day of the announced charges.[4]

In 2021, the company encountered difficult geological conditions at the mine and was forced to reduce the size of its reserves.[5]

Expansions

In 2010, "stage 2" of the Narrabri Mine was approved which allowed the mine to convert to a longwall mining operation. (As of this date, Narrabri's underground mining area consists of 20 longwall panels.)[6]

In 2022, the mine received its environmental permit for "stage 3" operations.[7] This approval allows the mine to extract up to 11 Mtpa of ROM coal until July 2031.[6]

Opposition

Australian environmental groups, including Lock the Gate, have claimed the Narrabri coal mine expansion would be the dirtiest coal mine in Australia because of it's CO2e emissions.[8]

Project Details

  • Operator: Narrabri Coal Operations Pty Ltd (NCOPL)[6]
  • Owners: Whitehaven Coal (77.5%), J-Power Australia Pty Limited (7.5%), Upper Horn Investments (Australia) Pty Ltd (7.5%), Posco International Narrabri Investment Pty Ltd (5%), and Kores Narrabri Pty Limited (2.5%)[6]
  • Location: 25 km south-east of Narrabri and 60 km north-west of Gunnedah, in Baan Baa, New South Wales, Australia[6]
  • GPS Coordinates: -30.51820371, 149.89767941 (exact)
  • Status: Operating
  • Production: 3.98 mtpa[9]
  • Total Resource:
  • Mineable Reserves: 102 million tonnes[10]
  • Coal Type: Thermal
  • Mine Type: Underground
  • Mining Method: Longwall
  • Mine Depth: 200 m[11]
  • Workforce Size: 500
  • Start Year: 2012
  • Source of Financing:

Project Expansion Details

  • Status: Approved
  • Capacity: 5.3 mtpa[1]
  • Mineable Reserves: 82 million tonnes[6]
  • Start Year: TBD
  • Source of Financing:


Articles and resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 IEA, Coal 2021 Production and Forecast, accessed Jan, 2022
  2. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, "Minerals and energy: Major development projects", April 2010, Archived from the original, 1 June 2011. (Pdf). The list is also available in Excel format here.)
  3. Lisa Cox, "Whitehaven Coal charged with 16 breaches of NSW mining laws", The Guardian, Aug. 11, 2020.
  4. Elouise Fowler, "Whitehaven charged over Narrabri mine", The Australian Financial Review, Aug. 11, 2020.
  5. Whitehaven Coal Annual Report, 2021
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Narrabri Underground Mine Stage 3 Extension Project Environmental Impact Statement - Section 1, New South Wales Government Planning Portal, accessed June 2023.
  7. ‘Unfathomable’: Narrabri coalmine expansion gets final approval from NSW planning commission, Guardian, April 2022
  8. Graham Readfearn and Lisa Cox, Narrabri Mine Expansion Would Make it Dirtiest Thermal Coal Mine in Australia Environmentalists Say, Guardian, Feb 14, 2022
  9. Whitehaven Coal Annual Report, 2021
  10. Narrabri North Mine
  11. Narrabi, Mining Link, accessed Sept 2020

Related GEM.wiki articles

External articles