Wilton and Fairhill Coal Projects
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Wilton and Fairhill Coal Projects is a proposed coal mine in Emerald, Queensland, Australia.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Mine Name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Wilton and Fairhill Coal Projects | Emerald, Queensland, Australia | -23.41261, 148.576971 (approximate) |
The map below shows the approximate location of the coal mine:
Project Details
Table 2: Project status
| Status | Status Detail | Project Type | Opening Year | Closing Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proposed | Construction | New | – | – |
Table 3: Operation details
| Capacity (Mtpa) | Production (Mtpa) | Year of Production | Mine Type | Mining Method | Mine Size (km2) | Mine Depth (m) | Workforce Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.6 | – | – | Surface | Open Pit | – | 60* | 100 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | – | 2600 | – | Bituminous | Met | – |
Table 5: Ownership and parent company
| Owner | Parent Company | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|
| Futura Resources [50.00%]; Sojitz Development Pty Ltd [50.00%] | Futura Resources [50%]; Sojitz [50%] | Australia, Japan |
Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the GEM April 2024 Global Coal Mine Tracker dataset.
Coal Mine Background
The project is subject to two mining licenses. Wilton is the more advanced of the two projects which are fundamentally different ends of the same deposit. Fairhill has a JORC Resource of 337 million tonnes of Inferred Resource, the Wilton project has 2277 million tonnes of JORC resource, of which 200 million tonnes has the important "Measured" classification.[1]
An exploration permit was granted for Wilton in May 2019.[2]
Futura Resources and Sojitz Coal, who are proposing the mine say that the mine could last for 25 years.[3] Futura Resources, is backed by London's Baker Steel Resources Trust[4] and Sojitz Coal is part of the Sojitz Corporation, a Japanese company with a metals and mineral resources division.[5]
The Wilton Coal Company (which routes to the Futura Resources website from a Queensland Government webpage[6] suggesting it is a subsidiary) has held exploration rights for about 12,000 hectares near Emerald since 2011. Plans for one of Australia’s largest coalmines, producing 10m tonnes a year, were abandoned during an environmental impact study process in 2015, when the coal price dropped to about half its current value.[7]
Sojitz have re-opened the formerly BMA Gregory Crinum mine close to the proposed Wilton and Fairhill mines. The company intends to use the infrastructure at the Gregory Crinum mine to process the coal from the other mine.[8]
References
- ↑ Shift Miner, "Miners at the gate", Steel Guru website, 24 March 2019.
- ↑ Queensland Government, "Permits Granted between 1/05/2019 and 31/05/2019", Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy website, 29 November 2019.
- ↑ Steel Guru, "Baker Steel acquires royalty stake in Wilton and Fairhill future production for AUD 6 million", Steel Guru website, 4 February 2019.
- ↑ Peter Ker, "BHP Billiton sells Gregory Crinum coal for $100m", Financial Review, 30 May 2018.
- ↑ Sojitz Corporation, "Business Overview", Sojitz website, accessed 8 January 2020.
- ↑ Queensland Government, "Current environmental authority application or amendment documents", Department for Environment and Science website, 24 March 2019.
- ↑ Ben Smee, "Plans to mine 6.2bn tonne Queensland coal deposit quietly revived ", Guardian, 27 March 2018.
- ↑ Elizabeth Fabri, "Emerald: Gem of the Bowen", Australian Mining Review, 9 August 2018.
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.
