1.2.2.1 Coal

Coal was first discovered in the Gunnedah region in 1877 and the Centenary (Preston) Colliery commenced production of coal in 1889. Coal production increased in the 1890s with the opening of the Gunnedah and Black Jack Collieries. Coal mining in the Namoi subregion has consisted of three small scale operations (Vickery, Preston and Gunnedah) around the Gunnedah area until a few decades ago (NSW Department of Mineral Resources, 2002). As the demand for coal has increased over the past decade, mining activity in the subregion has increased.

Figure 8 shows the location of coal tenements, and operating and historical (closed) coal mines in the Namoi subregion. There are currently six operating coal mines in the Namoi subregion. Five of these are open-cut (Boggabri, Tarrawonga, Rocglen, Werris Creek and Sunnyside) and the sixth is an underground mine (Narrabri). Three mines in the Namoi subregion have closed: Canyon (2000 to 2009), Gunnedah Colliery Underground Mine (closed in 2000) and Preston Extended (closed in 1998). The Vickery Coal Mine originally operated from 1986 to 1998, was reopened in 2008 and closed again in 2012, however it was recently given approval to be reopened. The Vickery Coal Mine is discussed further in Section 1.2.3 .

Figure 8 shows that most operating and historical coal mines in the subregion are clustered in two groups in the eastern part of the subregion and many of these mines have adjoining tenement boundaries.

Figure 8 Location of coal tenements and operating and historical (closed) mines in the Namoi subregion

Source data: OZMIN database, current as of December 2012 (Geoscience Australia, 2013) and NSW Government

Table 3 provides a list of the active coal mining operations in the Namoi subregion and summarises details about each. The current expected life of the coal mines ranges from 5 to 60 years. At the end of mining, the final voids are expected to reach depths of between 50 and 380 m below surface.

Table 3 Summary of operating coal mines in the Namoi subregion

Site name and mining lease (ML) number	Mining methods	Operator	Location	Expected final depth (mAHD)	JORC compliant Resource^a	Expected mine life	Annual production (Mt) (FY 2013–14)^b
Boggabri CL 368	Open-cut	Idemitsu	17 km north-east of Boggabri	285	210 Mt mineable reserves	2006–2033	3.7 (in 2012)^c
Narrabri North ML 1609	Underground (longwall mining)	Whitehaven Coal and Upper Horn Investments, J Power, EDF Trading, Daewoo, Kores	28 km south of Narrabri	East 160–180 West 380	Narrabri North 740 Mt resources, Narrabri North 133 Mt marketable reserves^d	2010–2040	5.66 ROM coal 5.25 saleable coal
Rocglen (Belmont) ML 1620	Open-cut	Whitehaven Coal	28 km north of Gunnedah	100	13 Mt resources, 4.4 Mt marketable reserves^d	2008–2016	1.32 ROM coal 0.84 saleable coal
Sunnyside ML 1624	Open-cut	Whitehaven Coal	15 km west of Gunnedah	100	NA – not operating	2008–2013	NA – not operating
Tarrawonga ML 1579	Open-cut	Whitehaven Coal and Idemitsu	16 km north-east of Boggabri	180	82 Mt resources, 41 Mt marketable reserves^d	2006–2017	2.19 ROM coal 1.91 saleable coal
Werris Creek ML 1563	Open-cut	Whitehaven Coal	4 km south of Werris Creek	~190	25 Mt resources, 18 Mt marketable reserves^d	2005–2025	2.36 ROM coal 2.31 saleable coal

^aJoint Ore Reserves Committee

^bWhitehaven Coal (2014b)

^cHansen Bailey (2013)

^dWhitehaven Coal (2014c)

NA means ‘data not available’; ROM = run of mine

Full company names are: Daewoo Group (Daewoo), EDF Trading Limited (EDF Trading), Idemitsu Australia Resources Pty Ltd (Idemitsu), J Power Electric Power Development Co., Ltd (J Power), Kores Corp. (Kores), Upper Horn Investments Pty Ltd (Upper Horn Investments), Whitehaven Coal Limited (Whitehaven Coal)

Last updated:

5 January 2018

Product Finalisation date

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ASSESSMENT

PRODUCT DATA