1.2.4 Catalogue of potential resource developments


Summary

This section summarises all of the proposals for coal resource development in the Hunter subregion post-December 2012 identified in the mine activity summaries in Section 1.2.2 and Section 1.2.3.

In all 42 post-December 2012 proposals are identified, including 27 proposals to extend existing operations and 15 proposals to initiate new mines. This list will be used as the basis for defining the additional coal resource developments (ACRD) to be modelled in the coal resource development pathway (CRDP) (see product 2.3).

No known coal seam gas (CSG) developments are currently proposed for this subregion.

In this section, information provided in Section 1.2.2 and Section 1.2.3 of this report is used to compile a list of coal mines in the Hunter subregion which have post-December 2012 expansion or new development plans. Table 5 lists 42 proposals, including 27 coal mines with expansion plans and 15 potential new mines. The locations of these coal developments are shown in Figure 10, noting that where a mine has two proposals it is represented by a single point on the map.

The Notes field includes information, obtained from mine environmental impact statements, NSW Government websites and company reports, on whether advice from the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development (IESC) has been sought. As at March 2015, some proposals were pre-EIS or awaiting EIS approval, some were approved but not yet commenced and some had commenced.

A map showing lease areas for CSG exploration held by three companies in the Sydney and Gloucester Basin areas is included at the end of Section 1.2.2. These companies are AGL Upstream Investments Pty Limited (AGL Upstream Investments), Dart Energy Limited (Dart Energy), and Santos Ltd. As at March 2015, no there were no coal seam gas proposals in the Hunter subregion.

Table 5 Potential post-December 2012 coal resource developments in the Hunter subregion, as at 10 March 2015.


Mine name

Complex name

Owner

Longitude

Latitude

Status of EISa

Notes

Ashton

Yancoal Australia Ltd

151.07°

–32.47°

EIS for modification 5 – SE open cut submitted November 2009

Recommendation made to NSW Planning Assessment Commission August 2011. Maximum permitted production rate of 2.25 million tonnes per annum (Mt/y) (Wells Environmental Services, 2012, p. 4, Table 1)

Ashtonb

Yancoal Australia Ltd

151.07°

–32.47°

EIS approved

Ashton purchased December 2009. Maximum permitted production rate of 3.2 Mt/y (Wells Environmental Services, 2012, p. 4, Table 1)

Austarb

Yancoal Australia Ltd

151.31°

–32.87°

EIS approved

Known as Southland Coal Mine from December 2004, previously known as Pelton Colliery and existed for about 100 years. Maximum permitted production rate of 3.6 Mt/y (Umwelt Australia Pty Ltd, 2011, p. 4, Table 1)

Bengalla

Wesfarmers Limited

150.85°

–32.27°

EIS approved

Extension approved March 2015. IESC advice 24 May 2013. Maximum permitted production rate of 15 Mt/y (Hansen Bailey, 2014b, p. 3, Table 1)

Bickhamb

Bickham Coal

150.918°

–31.844°

Pre-EIS

Proposed new mine.

Bloomfield

Bloomfield Group

151.58°

–32.79°

EIS approved

Modification 3 approved February 2013. Maximum permitted production rate of 1.3 Mt/y (Bloomfield Group, 2012)

Bulga

Bulga Coal Complex

Bulga Coal Management Pty Ltd (Glencore)

151.11°

–32.69°

EIS approved

IESC advice 10 February 2014. Maximum permitted production rate of 12.2 Mt/y from the open cut operations but not exceeding 20 Mt/y for open cut and underground operations combined (Umwelt Australia Pty Ltd, 2013, p. 12, Table 2.1)

Bylongc

KEPCO Bylong/Cockatoo

151.11°

–32.407°

EIS by June 2016

Two open-cut mines. IESC advice 4 March 2014. Open cut and underground operations have a combined maximum permitted production rate of 6 Mt/y (Hansen Bailey, 2014a, p. 4).

Bylongb, c

KEPCO Bylong/Cockatoo

151.11°

–32.407°

EIS by June 2016

Open cut and underground operations have a combined maximum permitted production rate of 6 Mt/y (Hansen Bailey, 2014a, p. 4).

Chain Valleyb

LakeCoal Pty Ltd

151.55°

–33.17°

EIS approved

Link to Mannering Mine. Maximum permitted production rate increased from 1.2 Mt/y to 1.5 Mt/y in 2013 (EMGA Mitchell McLennan, 2012, p. E.1)

Dellworthb, c

NuCoal Resources Ltd

151.05°

–32.42°

Pre-EIS

Savoy Hill more likely to proceed than Dellworth

Doyles Creekc

NuCoal Resources Ltd

150.871°

–32.51°

Pre-EIS

Exploration licence EL 7270 cancelled by NSW Government 31 Jan 2014

Drayton

Anglo American

150.91°

–32.35°

EIS in preparation

Mine extension. Director General Requirements issued December 2014. Maximum permitted production rate of 8 Mt/y (Hansen Bailey, 2011, p. 1)

Drayton South

150.83°

–32.427°

IESC advice 23 February 2015. Maximum permitted production rate of 6.4 Mt/y (Hansen Bailey, 2015, p. 1)

Ferndaleb, c

Whitehaven Coal Limited

150.577°

–32.469°

Pre-EIS

Proposed new mine.

Kayugac

Anglo American

150.839°

–32.201°

Pre-EIS

Proposed new mine.

Liddell

Mount Owen Complex

Glencore/Mitsui

151°

–32.395°

EIS approved

Modification 5 was approved March 2015. IESC advice 10 April 2014. Maximum permitted production rate of 8 Mt/y (SLR, 2013a, p. ii)

Mandalong southern extensionb, c

Centennial Coal Company Ltd

151.46°

–33.12°

EIS submitted

Purchased in 2002. Maximum permitted production rate of 6 Mt/y (GSS Environmental, 2013, p. 67)

Mangoola

Glencore

150.67°

–32.3°

EIS approved

Formally known as Anvil Hill Mine. Maximum permitted production rate of 13.5 Mt/y (EMGA Mitchell McLennan, 2013, p. 23)

Manneringb

Centennial Coal Company Ltd

151.54°

–33.17°

EIS approved

Link to Chain Valley only. Maximum permitted production rate of 1.1 Mt/y (EMGA Mitchell McLennan, 2014a, p. E.1)

Mitchells Flatb, c

Glencore

151.314°

–32.532°

EIS approved

Glencore advises in concept phase as at March 2015

Monash

Yancoal

151.199°

–32.773°

Pre-EIS

Proposed new mine.

Moolarben

Yancoal Australia Ltd

149.78°

–32.29°

EIS submitted

IESC advice 1 February 2013. Maximum permitted production rate of 9 Mt/y from Stage 1 and 12 Mt/y from Stage 2 of open cut operations but not exceeding 13 Mt/y for open cut and underground operations combined (Moolarben Coal, 2015, p. 2, Table 1)

Moolarbenb

Yancoal Australia Ltd

149.78°

–32.29°

EIS approved

Maximum permitted production rate of 4 Mt/y from the underground operations but not exceeding 13 Mt/y for open cut and underground operations combined (Moolarben Coal, 2015, p.2, Table 1)

Mount Arthur

Mount Arthur Coal Mine

BHP Billiton

150.87°

–32.34°

EIS approved

Modification 1 – extension of mining approved September 2014. Maximum permitted production rate of 32 Mt/y (BHP Billiton, n.d., p. 3)

Mount Owen

Mount Owen Complex

Glencore

151.1°

–32.39°

EIS submitted

Maximum permitted production rate of 18.5 Mt/y (Umwelt Australia Pty Ltd, 2015, p. 1)

Mount Pennyc

Cascade Coal

150.055°

-32.438°

Pre-EIS

Exploration licence EL7406 cancelled by NSW Government 31 Jan 2014. IESC advice submitted Dec 2012.

Mount Pleasantc

Rio Tinto

150.84°

–32.237°

EIS approved

Modification 1 approved September 2011. IESC advice 24 February 2012. Maximum permitted production rate of 10.5 Mt/y (EMGA Mitchell McLennan Pty Ltd, 2010, p. 1)

Mount Thorley-Warkworth

Mount Thorley-Warkworth

151.09°

–32.641°

IESC advice 29 June 2012. Maximum permitted production rate of 10 Mt/y (EMGA Mitchell McLennan, 2014b)

Muswellbrook No 2

Muswellbrook Coal Mine

Idemitsu Kosan Ltd

150.941°

–32.248°

Maximum permitted production rate of 2 Mt/y (Muswellbrook Coal Company Limited, 2014,p. 1)

Muswellbrook Westc

Muswellbrook Coal Mine

Idemitsu Kosan Ltd

150.772°

–32.215°

Referred to IESC 2015

Myunab

Centennial Coal Company Ltd

151.57°

–33.06°

EIS approved

Maximum permitted production rate increased from 2 Mt/y to 3 Mt/y in 2014 (Centennial Coal, 2014, p.26, Table 4)

Newstan

Centennial Coal Company Ltd

151.577°

–32.976°

Pre-EIS

Two new proposals, but as at April 2015 in care and maintenance. Maximum permitted production rate of 4 Mt/y (SLR, 2013b, p. 20)

Ravensworth Eastb

Ravensworth Complex (Underground)

Resource Pacific Pty Limited (owned by Glencore and Marubeni) and Posco

151.04°

–32.44°

EIS approved

Modification 9 – changes to longwall layout approved June 2013. No additional mining. Maximum permitted production rate of 7 Mt/y (GSS Environmental, 2012, p.12)

Rix's Creek

Bloomfield Group

151.13°

–32.58°

EIS in preparation

Maximum permitted production rate of 2.5 Mt/y (AECOM Australia Pty Ltd, 2013, p. 1)

Savoy Hillc

NuCoal Resources Ltd

150.9°

–32.4°

Exploration phase

Spur Hillb, c

Malabar Coal Ltd

150.77°

–32.41°

EIS submitted

Pending approval. IESC advice 10 February 2014. Maximum permitted production rate of 8 Mt/y (Spur Hill Underground Coking Coal, 2014, p. 3)

Ulanb

Glencore

149.75°

–32.215°

EIS approved

Production began in May 2014.from Ulan West underground longwall mine.

Wallarah 2b, c

Wyong Coal Pty Ltd

151.388°

–33.235°

EIS submitted

Pending approval. IESC advice 24 May 2013. Maximum permitted production rate of 5.0 Mt/y (Hansen Bailey, 2013, p. 4)

Wambo

Wambo Coal Company Ltd

151°

–32.58°

EIS in preparation

Maximum permitted production rate of 8 Mt/y from the open cut operations but not exceeding 14.7 Mt/y for open cut and underground operations combined (Peabody Energy, 2014, p.4, Table 1)

Wambob

Wambo Coal Company Ltd

151°

–32.58°

EIS in preparation

Maximum permitted production rate of 7.5 Mt/y from the underground operations but not exceeding 14.7 Mt/y for open cut and underground operations combined (Peabody Energy, 2014, p.4, Table 1)

Wilpinjong

Wilpinjong Coal Pty Ltd

149.89°

–32.33°

EIS in preparation

Maximum permitted production rate of 16 Mt/y (Peabody Energy, n.d., p. 9, Table 1)

aThe status of the project within an environmental impact statement (EIS): pre-EIS, EIS in preparation, EIS submitted, EIS closed, supplementary EIS and EIS approved

bUnderground mine

cNew mine

IESC = Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development

Figure 10

Figure 10 Map showing locations of coal mines with expansion plans and potential new mines in the Hunter subregion for post December 2012

West Muswellbrook Coal Mine is a potential new mine and not a currently existing mine as shown on the figure.

Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1)

Last updated:
18 January 2019
Thumbnail of the Hunter subregion

Product Finalisation date

2015
PRODUCT CONTENTS

ASSESSMENT