Peak Downs Coal Mine

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

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Peak Downs Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Moranbah, Queensland, Australia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Peak Downs Coal Mine	Moranbah, Queensland, Australia	-22.2548999, 148.1796569 (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	–	1972	–

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
18	17.776	2025	Surface	Open Pit	–	60.0*	1760.0

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
893.0	2025	1975.0	Bowen	Bituminous	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
BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance Pty Ltd	BHP Group Ltd [50.0%]; Mitsubishi Corp [50.0%]	Australia

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

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
ROM	21.52	21.75	20.02	21.21	22.43	18.54	20.18	–	17.78

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	Construction	Expansion	–	–	–

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
–	–	–	​	–
0.603	50.073	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 Peak Downs coal mine is a surface coal mine owned by BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), near Winchester, Queensland, Australia.

According to BHP, it is one of Australia's biggest coal mines when measured by recoverable coal reserves. The first coal from Peaks Down Mine was produced in April 1972.

The mine is owned by BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), a 50:50 joint venture between BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi Development. (BMA also operates the Goonyella Riverside mine, Saraji mine, Norwich Park mine, Blackwater mine, the Gregory Crinum mine as well as the Hay Point Coal Terminal. Coal from the project is exported via the coal loaders at Hay Point, 195km to the south west of the mine.

• Operator: Thiess
• Owners: BHP Billiton (50%) and Mitsubishi Development (50%)
• Location: 30 km north of Moranbah in the Bowen Basin, Queensland, Australia
• GPS Coordinates: -22.2548999, 148.1796569 (exact)
• Status: Operating
• Production: 9.8 million tonnes per annum (2022)
• Total Resource: 1.944 billion tonnes (2022)
• Mineable Reserves: 1.045 billion tonnes (2022)
• Coal Type: Bituminous (Metallurgical)
• Mine Size:
• Mine Type: Surface
• Mining Method: Open cut
• Start Year: 1972
• 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
M0087.B1	mine boundary	surface	Peak Downs mine boundary	extracted	2022-03-01 00:00:00
M0087.P1	other	preparation plant	coal handling and preparation plant in the mine industrial area	extracted	2023-12-01 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 Jun 27, 2025

ID	Notes
M0087.B1	The Peak Downs mine is sandwiched directly between Caval Ridge mine to the north and Saraji mine to the south. The boundary is derived from existing and authorized surface rights shown in figure 2a of Peak Downs Mine Continuation Project Initial Advice Statement Final Mar 23 2022, https://web.archive.org/web/20250528211924/https://www.bhp.com/-/media/bhp/regulatory-information-media/coal/bma/peak-downs/peak-downs-mine-continuation-project/peak-downs-mine-continuation-project---initial-advice-statement.pdf. Section 3.1 of this document also notes, 'All mining leases include authorisation for ERA 13 (mining black coal). However, this authorisation does not extend to areas within ML 1885 and parts of ML 70411 and ML 1775 where those mining leases do not presently include surface rights and are marked as ‘Nil Surface Rights’ on Figure 2b. Figure 2a shows the areas of existing surface rights under the mining leases and for which the EA EPML00318213 includes authorisation for ERA 13 (mining black coal)'. Prior to adjustments where necessary to support the above information, 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. The boundary is comprised of the following mining leases components, with permit names taken from the Queensland Mining Leases dataset: ML 1775, excluding Caval Ridge mine, north of Harrow Creek, and excluding Saraji mine to the south; ML 70403 - excluding Caval Ridge mine, north of Harrow Creek; ML 1783 - Peak Downs industrial mine area; ML 70142 - Boomerang Creek, and excluding Saraji mine to the south; ML 70372 - Peak Downs haul road; ML 70377 - Peak Downs transport overpass; ML 70411 - Peak Downs East, excluding nil surface rights; ML 70412 - Harrow Creek Dam and Red Hill Mine; ML 70463 - Peak Downs West. The area of the boundary is 148 sq km.
M0087.P1	Identified visually from 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.