Tahmoor Coal Mine

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

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Tahmoor Coal Mine is a mothballed coal mine in Tahmoor, New South Wales, Australia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Tahmoor Coal Mine	Tahmoor, New South Wales, Australia	-34.2532732, 150.5753104 (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
Mothballed	–	1979	2033 (planned)

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
4	2.7	2024	Underground	Longwall	64.9	500.0*	400.0*

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
54.0	2017	650.0	Southern	Bituminous	Met	–

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
Tahmoor Coal	GFG Alliance Ltd	UK, UK

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

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
ROM	2.11	2.11	2.37	2.35	2.75	2.32	2.73	2.7	–

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 7: 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
21.708	1801.731	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 Tahmoor coal complex is a coal mine 80 kilometres (km) south-west of Sydney in the Southern Coalfields of New South Wales, Australia. Mining began at Tahmoor Coking Coal Mine (Tahmoor North) in 1979 and is owned and operated by SIMEC Mining, a member of the GFG Alliance. As of June 2020, the existing mining operation at Tahmoor Coking Coal is due to cease in 2022, though.

In order to continue mining, SIMEC Mining applied to extend the life of the mine by a further 13 years, up until 2035. If approved, the mine expansion would take place at Tahmoor South mine, which is within the same mining lease but slightly south of the Tahmoor Coking Coal operations.

As of June 2020, the Tahmoor South project is in the "assessment" phase, having already submitted an environmental impact statement and responded to appropriate submissions from interested stakeholders.

The coal mines are underground longwall mines that produce coking coal.

In 2021, the project received approval for a 10 year life of mine extension.

According to the company website, coal mining at the Tahmoor South mine began on 18 October 2022 and it will operate until 2032.

Despite its 2032 mine life, the Tahmoor coal mine southwest of Sydney has been effectively closed since February 2025, with around 450 workers stood down amid a halt in production tied to its financially troubled owner, leaving the site idle and its future uncertain as potential buyers are explored.

• Sponsor: Tahmoor Coal Pty Ltd
• Parent Company: SIMEC Mining Division (SIMEC) of the GFG Alliance (GFG)
• Location: Located approximately 80 kilometres (km) south-west of Sydney in the Southern Coalfields of New South Wales (NSW).
• GPS Coordinates: -34.2532732,150.5753104 (exact)
• Status: Tahmoor North is closed; Tahmoor South is operating
• Production Capacity: Tahmoor North produces about 1.6 mtpa, though the expansion to Tahmoor South will increase production to 4 mtpa
• Total Resource: 290 Mt (Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resource, 2020)
• Mineable Reserves: 11 Mt (Proven and Probable Reserves, 2020)
• Coal type: Coking coal
• Mine Size:
• Mine Type: underground, longwall
• Start Year: Tahmoor North began in 1979, while Tahmoor South has not yet begun, but predictions are set for 2022.
• 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
M0103.B1	mine boundary	underground	Tahmoor Coal Mine boundary	extracted	March 2024
M0103.P1	degasification system	drainage station	gas plant	extracted	12/2018 (report), 8/2023 (satellite)
M0103.P2	degasification system	gas to electric station	gas to electricity plant	extracted	12/2018 (report), 8/2023 (satellite)
M0103.P3	degasification system	flare	flare plant	extracted	12/2018 (report), 8/2023 (satellite)
M0103.P4	ventilation system	shaft	downcast ventilation shaft no. 1	extracted	12/2018 (report), 8/2023 (satellite)
M0103.P5	ventilation system	shaft	downcast ventilation shaft no. 3	extracted	12/2018 (report), 8/2023 (satellite)
M0103.P6	ventilation system	shaft	downcast ventilation shaft no. 2	extracted	12/2018 (report), 8/2023 (satellite)

Table SMP2: Coal mine boundaries and methane sources data (continued)

Coal mine boundaries and methane sources were last researched for this mine on Apr 03, 2025

ID	Notes
M0103.B1	Figure 1 Mining Area and Tenure on page 8 of the Tahmoor Coal Pty Ltd 2023 ANNUAL REVIEW AND ANNUAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT REPORT March 2024, https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.tahmoorcolliery.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/05/Tahmoor-Coal-2023-Annual-Review-and-AEMR-Final_20240510_update.pdf, shows the mining leases of the mine. The mining leases are also described on Table 5-1 Consents and Licences on page 10, and Table 1-1 Title Block on page 1. 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 boundary is the perimeter of these mining leases and has an area of 115 sq km.
M0103.P1	Extracted using Figure 3.1 CURRENT LONGWALL PROGRESS AND VENT SHAFT LOCATIONS on page 85 of Environmental Impact Statement - Main Report https://web.archive.org/web/20190617184732/https://majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/prweb/PRRestService/mp/01/getContent?AttachRef=SSD-8445%2120190328T225833.432%20GMT, December 21 2018. Verified visually with Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M0103.P2	Extracted using Figure 3.1 CURRENT LONGWALL PROGRESS AND VENT SHAFT LOCATIONS on page 85 of Environmental Impact Statement - Main Report https://web.archive.org/web/20190617184732/https://majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/prweb/PRRestService/mp/01/getContent?AttachRef=SSD-8445%2120190328T225833.432%20GMT, December 21 2018. Verified visually with Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M0103.P3	Extracted using Figure 3.1 CURRENT LONGWALL PROGRESS AND VENT SHAFT LOCATIONS on page 85 of Environmental Impact Statement - Main Report https://web.archive.org/web/20190617184732/https://majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/prweb/PRRestService/mp/01/getContent?AttachRef=SSD-8445%2120190328T225833.432%20GMT, December 21 2018. Verified visually with Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M0103.P4	Extracted using Figure 3.1 CURRENT LONGWALL PROGRESS AND VENT SHAFT LOCATIONS on page 85 of Environmental Impact Statement - Main Report https://web.archive.org/web/20190617184732/https://majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/prweb/PRRestService/mp/01/getContent?AttachRef=SSD-8445%2120190328T225833.432%20GMT, December 21 2018. Verified visually with Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M0103.P5	Extracted using Figure 3.1 CURRENT LONGWALL PROGRESS AND VENT SHAFT LOCATIONS on page 85 of Environmental Impact Statement - Main Report https://web.archive.org/web/20190617184732/https://majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/prweb/PRRestService/mp/01/getContent?AttachRef=SSD-8445%2120190328T225833.432%20GMT, December 21 2018. Verified visually with Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M0103.P6	Extracted using Figure 3.1 CURRENT LONGWALL PROGRESS AND VENT SHAFT LOCATIONS on page 85 of Environmental Impact Statement - Main Report https://web.archive.org/web/20190617184732/https://majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/prweb/PRRestService/mp/01/getContent?AttachRef=SSD-8445%2120190328T225833.432%20GMT, December 21 2018. Verified visually with Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.

Associated Coal Mine Methane Mitigation Projects

Some coal mines have installed infrastructure which can use and/or destroy some methane emissions associated with mining. In 2024, the Global Methane Initiative reported that this mine had a mitigation project associated with it. This methodology page describes how GEM classified these projects and linked them with coal mines in the Global Coal Mine Tracker.

Table MM1: Methane mitigation projects

Mitigation Project Name	Project Type	GMI Reported Status	GMI Reported Start Year
Tahmoor Colliery Flaring - Australia	Flaring	Operational	2012
Tahmoor Colliery Power Generation Project Phase 1 - Australia	utilization	Operational	2000
Tahmoor Colliery Power Generation Project Phase 2 - Australia	utilization	Operational	2003

Methane Plumes Detected Nearby

Global Energy Monitor researchers analyze satellite-detected methane plumes in order to determine whether they have been observed at or near the site of GEM energy assets. The satellite data provider creates imagery of individual methane plumes and estimates their emission rates at the time of observation. GEM has reviewed many of these plume detections against Google Earth imagery and GEM’s own energy infrastructure tracker data. The following table lists methane plumes which are associated with the energy asset or facility based on distance and manual review. (A full description of the analysis process is available in the Global Methane Emitters Tracker methodology wiki page.)

Table M1: Plume details

For additional details on this individual plume identification and others, see the Global Methane Emitters Tracker.

Observation date	Satellite data provider	Location of plume origin	Methane emissions rate	Additional plume information
2022-09-18T00:36:05+00	CarbonMapper, b4247507-0984-45c9-b835-3557ff052df1	-34.2446, 150.604	1681.0 kg/hr	New South Wales State Methane Observation 2022-09-18, 1
2023-06-07T00:29:01+00	CarbonMapper, 79f6a0c1-8fbe-4d14-960f-9ed39cb10f83	-34.2446, 150.604	1101.0 kg/hr	New South Wales State Methane Observation 2023-06-07, 2
2023-08-04T00:32:11+00	CarbonMapper, 6fb37c5b-936c-4eff-9556-f962f4929a12	-34.2446, 150.604	1046.0 kg/hr	New South Wales State Methane Observation 2023-08-04, 2
2023-08-12T00:38:53+00	CarbonMapper, 1f7a23d8-d890-4bd6-a9f8-09bed575686e	-34.2446, 150.604	1766.0 kg/hr	New South Wales State Methane Observation 2023-08-12, 2
2024-01-13T00:33:03+00	CarbonMapper, 0df68f79-7da1-4bb7-aa8b-b868cccdec0a	-34.2446, 150.604	2248.0 kg/hr	New South Wales State Methane Observation 2024-01-13, 2
2024-01-21T00:40:03+00	CarbonMapper, ce8a3c78-b97c-443c-bf04-cf90e98737f1	-34.2446, 150.604	2236.0 kg/hr	New South Wales State Methane Observation 2024-01-21, 2
2024-04-26T00:28:45+00	CarbonMapper, 4347adf9-0dd9-430e-9aa7-bd2e83d6b933	-34.2446, 150.604	2095.0 kg/hr	New South Wales State Methane Observation 2024-04-26, 2
2024-09-20T00:39:18+00	CarbonMapper, 7532bd7c-48f0-4a1e-a1c8-5c32704fc649	-34.2446, 150.604	1736.0 kg/hr	New South Wales State Methane Observation 2024-09-20, 4
2024-10-05T00:24:43+00	CarbonMapper, tan20241005t002443c00s4001-B	-34.24474932, 150.6041949	–	New South Wales State Methane Observation 2024-10-05, 3
2024-12-25T00:28:57+00	CarbonMapper, 7feccf2d-6a41-4672-8d11-7b4472b37dfe	-34.2446, 150.604	614.0 kg/hr	New South Wales State Methane Observation 2024-12-25, 3
2025-01-04T23:28:16+00	CarbonMapper, emi20250104t232816p15042-D	-34.2451, 150.6032	2864.831 kg/hr	New South Wales State Methane Observation 2025-01-04, 3
2025-01-21T00:28:31+00	CarbonMapper, 92a00397-26cc-4354-ae91-8e5dd342be7f	-34.2486, 150.5818	948.0 kg/hr	New South Wales State Methane Observation 2025-01-21, 9
2025-01-21T00:28:31+00	CarbonMapper, 7710c789-2006-4dae-b3b7-91949fa0bfd0	-34.2446, 150.604	790.0 kg/hr	New South Wales State Methane Observation 2025-01-21, 10

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.