2.6.2.5 Implementation of the coal resource development pathway

Summary

The baseline coal resource development (baseline) for the Clarence-Moreton bioregion includes only one operational coal mine (Jeebropilly Mine, west of Ipswich, Queensland). In addition to this coal mine, the coal resource development pathway (CRDP) includes one additional coal resource development, Metgasco Limited’s West Casino Gas Project. The Jeebropilly Mine will be closed in 2017 before the start of the West Casino Gas Project, and is believed to be beyond the potential impact zone of the additional coal resource development. While the Jeebropilly coal mine is included in the CRDP, it is not modelled because it is distant and hydrologically disconnected from Metgasco’s West Casino Gas Project. The coal seam gas extraction wells in the coal seams of the Walloon Coal Measures (layer 6) were simulated in the numerical groundwater model using the MODFLOW Drain package, with a variable conductance that aims at matching the independently predicted volumes of extracted water and achieves the target pressure head.