Coal companies of Australia
÷Some of the more notable coal companies in Australia are the following: Anglo Coal Australia Ltd. Anglo Coal Australia Ltd owns and operates a number of mines in Queensland and New South Wales. Mines. Callide mine: is a leading Queensland domestic coal producer providing low-sulphur, sub-bituminous thermal coal primarily for domestic power generation. The coalfields cover an area of 180 square kilometres and contain seams up to 26 metres thick. Annual production is 7 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of sub-bituminous thermal coal. At December 2014, estimates for ROM reserves are approximately 202  Mt of domestic and export thermal quality, with an additional 262 Mt of mineable in-situ resources outside the current mine layout. Bloomfield Collieries Pty Ltd. The Bloomfield Group is an Australian owned group of private companies which operate in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales. The Group has interests in mining and engineering. It operates two open-cut coal mines: Bloomfield at East Maitland and Rix's Creek at Singleton. Rix's Creek is 5 km north west of Singleton on the New England Highway. Situated in the Whittingham Coal Measures, it is part of the Singleton Super Group  including the Barrett, Liddell, Arties and Pikes Gully seams. The mine produces 0.88 million tonnes per annum. BHP. BMA. Jointly owned with Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd, the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) is Australia's largest coal miner and exporter, and the world's largest supplier to the sea borne coking coal market. BMA's mines are located in the coal-rich Bowen Basin of Central Queensland, where BMA owns and operates seven mines – Goonyella Riverside, Broadmeadow, Peak Downs, Saraji, Norwich Park, Gregory Crinum, and Blackwater – and the Hay Point terminal near Mackay. They also manage the South Walker Creek and  Poitrel mines, owned by BHP (80 per cent) and Mitsui and Co. (20 per cent). The Bowen Basin covers an area of 75,000 km² of Permian Age marine and freshwater sediments and is roughly triangular in shape, extending around 550 km from its northern peak at Collinsville, southwards to its base at Theodore, where it is approximately 250 km wide. With the exception of the Crinum and Broadmeadow underground longwall operations, the mines are open-cut, using dragline and truck/shovel fleets for overburden removal. Coal seams are mined by front end loader and hydraulic excavators, and coal is transported  to mine preparation plants by large capacity haul trucks. Mines. The mines managed by the BMA have a capacity to produce 58 million tonnes of coal annually, which are currently sold to over 93 customers in 23 countries, including Japan, the UK, Europe, South America, Korea, Taiwan and India. BMC. BMC owns and operates two open-cut metallurgical coal mines in the Bowen Basin – South Walker Creek Mine and Poitrel Mine. BMC is owned by BHP (80 per cent) and Mitsui and Co (20 per cent). Hunter Valley Energy Coal (HVEC). The Mount Arthur coal mine is a large open -cut mine near Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, producing approximately 16 million tonnes per annum. Centennial Coal. Centennial Coal, located predominantly in New South Wales, was acquired in September 2010 by Thailand-based Banpu, which operates in the coal and energy industries. Centennial is a coal mining and marketing company supplying thermal and coking coal to the domestic and export markets. The company has five operating coal mines in NSW, making Centennial one of the largest underground coal producers in NSW. It is a major fuel supplier in NSW, producing approximately 40% of the State's coal -fired electricity. The company sells approximately 40% of its coal to export markets, primarily for use in power stations and steel mills in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Europe. Coal is exported through ports at Newcastle and Port Kembla in New South Wales. Pollution issues. Centennial Coal has been responsible for more than 900 pollution notices between 2000 and 2013 from the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA). In 2015 it was responsible for a major release of coal fines into the Wollangambe River and World Heritage listed areas of the Blue Mountains National Park. Centennial Coal has been dumping mine effluent  into the Wollangambe River for approximately 30 years, effectively killing large sections of it. Between 2000-2015, Centennial's Clarence Colliery has been cited for more than 65 non-compliance breaches of its licence. As of 2015, Centennial Coal has applied to extend the Springvale Mine, undermining swamps of "National Environmental Significance" and dumping up to 50 million litres a day of mine effluent into the Coxs River which also flows through the Blue Mountains World Heritage area and into Sydney's drinking water catchments. Coalpac Pty Ltd. Coalpac acquired the assets of the Lithgow Coal Company in February 2008 . These assets include the Cullen Valley Mine located in the Western Coalfield of New South Wales. Coalpac has been operating in the Lithgow district since 1989. The company currently operates the Cullen Valley open cut mine and the Invincible open cut mine. See also effects of the mining operation on surrounding property. Cornwall Coal. Cornwall Coal Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cement Australia. The company operates underground and open-cut coal mines, and a coal washing and processing plant, with the main facilities located in NE Tasmania, and a mine in Southern Tasmania. Production of raw coal in  2007/2008 totalled 725 490 tonnes, with 436 544 tonnes of saleable coal being produced. Donaldson Coal Pty Ltd. Donaldson Coal is a coal producer based in New South Wales, Australia. The mining operations are based in the Hunter Valley just south of Maitland, 25 kilometres from Newcastle and Port Waratah. Production is sourced from three mines. The Tasman underground mine, where mining started in 2006, is near Mount Sugarloaf, approximately 20 km from Newcastle and 18 km from South Maitland. Entry to the site is off George Booth Drive approximately 1.5 km west of Seahampton. The Mine Lease covers approximately  952 hectares with George Booth Drive to the north, the F3 Freeway to the east and Mount Sugarloaf in the centre. Production commenced in late 2006, following approval by the Minister for Infrastructure and Planning. Enhance Place Pty Ltd. Enhance Place Colliery near Lithgow, NSW. Pine Dale Coal Mine. Ensham Resources Pty Ltd. Established in 1993 as a joint venture among major international companies and their Australian subsidiaries, Ensham Resources Pty Limited is one of Queensland's largest and fastest-growing thermal coal producers. Ensham's mining operations currently comprise five open-cut coal mining pits: Pits A,B,C  & D either side of the Nogoa River—referred to as the ‘Ensham Project’—and the ‘Yongala’ pit, which is located approximately 5 km to the north of the main Ensham operation. Total combined production is currently in the vicinity of 9 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). Ensham Resources produces around 9 million tonnes per annum of high-energy low-ash thermal coal and small quantities of semi-soft coking coal. The coal is exported to leading energy producers in Japan, Korea, India and China and other countries. Felix Resources Limited. Felix Resources is an expanding company with a focus on coal  mining and the development and operation of coal-related assets. Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG) Terminal. Felix Resources is one of six companies involved in the construction of the NCIG terminal which is designed with a final capacity of 66 million tonnes per annum. The first stage is 30 million tonnes per annum. Foxleigh Mining Pty Ltd. Foxleigh Mining is the operator of a coal mine in central Queensland. The project is a joint venture between Brisbane company CAML Resources (63%), ICRA Foxleigh, part of the Japanese Itochu group (20.6%), and Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) (16.4%). The mine commenced operations  in late 1999 and presently exports coal to steel mills in Korea, Japan, and elsewhere. In July 2004, the mine had between 20-30 Indigenous employees on site among an employee population of approximately 230. Idemitsu. One of the world's largest privately owned energy companies with major investments in oil refineries and petroleum products, primarily in Japan. J-Power (formerly Electric Power Development Corporation (EPDC)) is one of Japan's largest power utilities. LG International is one of Korea's largest diversified conglomerates with interests in a vast array of international businesses including electronics. Bligh Coal is a 100 % subsidiary of Idemitsu. Ensham Resources. Queensland's third largest thermal coal producer is planning to expand its operations significantly in coming years with a proposed future underground mine in addition to continued expansion of its open-cut operations. Idemitsu Australia Resources Pty Ltd and its Australian subsidiary, Bligh Coal Limited together own 85% of the joint venture. The operator of the mine, Ensham Resources Pty Limited, together with the company's marketing arm, Ensham Coal Sales are based in Brisbane. Ensham Resources produces around 9 million tonnes per annum of high-energy low-ash thermal coal and small quantities of  semi-soft coking coal. The coal is exported to leading energy producers in Japan, Korea, India and China and other countries. Illawarra Coal Holdings Pty Ltd. Illawarra Coal produces premium-quality, hard coking coal (used in the production of steel) and some energy coal. Based in Wollongong and operating in the Illawarra and Wollondilly regions south of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Illawarra Coal operates three high-volume underground longwall mines: Appin/Appin West, West Cliff (to the west of the Illawarra Escarpment) and Dendrobium (on the eastern side of the Escarpment). Appin West. Known as the Douglas Project during  its development stages, Appin West is an extension of the existing Appin Mine that accesses valuable coking coal reserves to the north of the previous Tower Mine operations. Appin West is situated on Douglas Park Road, near Douglas Park, to the west of Appin, approximately 30 minutes from Wollongong. Jellinbah Group. Jellinbah Group Pty Ltd (formerly Queensland Coal Mine Management Pty Ltd) is a privately owned independent Queensland-based coal company. Jellinbah Group has 70% ownership interests in the Jellinbah and Lake Vermont Mines. Jellinbah Group is also the manager of both operations. Lithgow Coal Company Pty Ltd. Coalpac acquired  the assets of the Lithgow Coal Company in February 2008. These assets include the Cullen Valley Mine located in the Western Coalfield of New South Wales, Australia. It is immediately adjacent to the Baal Bone Colliery to the west and the Invincible Colliery to the south, and is approximately 5 km by road from the Mount Piper coal-fired power station. The Mine has development consent to produce up to 1 Mtpa, however historical production has been around 700,000 tonnes per annum. Macarthur Coal. An independent Queensland-based coal mining company with operations located in Queensland's Bowen Basin. Macarthur  Coal currently operates out of its Coppabella, Moorvale and Middlemount mines. The company also has an extensive range of prospects for new projects. Macarthur Coal mines approximately 5.5 million tonnes of raw coal to produce 4.2 million tonnes of product coal each year. Muswellbrook Coal Company Ltd. Taken over by Muswellbrok Industries Limited. Idemitsu Muswellbrook Coal a subsidiary of Idemitsu Kosan acquired the entire share capital of Muswellbrook Coal from Muswellbrook Energy and Minerals. New Hope Corporation Ltd. New Hope is an independent energy company which has open-cut mines at Acland on the Darling Downs and at Rosewood near  Ipswich. The New Acland open cut mine is located approximately 150 kilometres west of Brisbane in the Darling Downs region of Queensland. The mining method used at New Acland is an open-cut multi-thin-seam operation which utilises trucks, excavators and front-end loaders. Overburden is blasted or ripped by bulldozers prior to extraction. New Oakleigh operates an open-cut coal mine near the town of Rosewood, 23 kilometres west of Ipswich and 92 kilometres from the Port of Brisbane. The mining method used at New Oakleigh is a multi-thin-seam operation utilising trucks, excavators and front-end  loaders. Overburden is blasted or ripped by bulldozers prior to extraction. During the fiscal year ended 31 July 2008 (fiscal 2008), total saleable coal production from New Hope's operations was 4.451 million tons. The New Acland Mine is located 16 kilometres northwest of Oakey on the Darling Downs in South East Queensland and is the Company's major production source with approximately 3.92 million tons produced during fiscal 2008. The balance of coal production in the fiscal year 2008 of 531,000 tons came from the New Oakleigh mine in the West Moreton district, near Ipswich. In September 2008, the  Company announced the sale of New Saraji Coal project to the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA). Peabody Energy Australia. Peabody Pacific is one of Australia's largest mining companies with a total of 10 operations in Queensland and New South Wales. In 2003, Peabody Energy shipped a record 185 million tonnes (204 million tons) of coal to its clients worldwide. Queensland hosts six of the mine sites operated by Peabody Pacific. Four of these, Burton, North Goonyella, Eaglefield and Millennium span the length of the Bowen Basin coalfield. The Wilkie Creek mine site operates within the Surat Basin. Burton mine is  located in the Bowen Basin, about 150 kilometres south-west of Mackay. Mining commenced in 1996 and now extends over three individual operating pits: Plumtree, Wallanbah and Broadmeadows. The open-cut mine uses the terrace mining technique supported by a truck and shovel fleet. It is operated under contract by Thiess. North Goonyella underground and Eaglefield open-cut mines are located at the northern end of the Bowen Basin, about 160 kilometres west of Mackay. The combined operations produce around three million tonnes (3.3 million tons) of coking coal a year from a lease of 3,341 hectares. Mining commenced from  the underground in 1994. Millennium mine is located near the town of Moranbah in the Bowen Basin. Mining commenced in May 2006 at a rate of 1.5 million tonnes (1.65 million tons) a year. The mine plans to increase its annual saleable PCI and coking coal production to three million tonnes (3.3 million tons) as port constraints are eased at Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal. Millennium provides a low-ash coking coal and low-to-mid-volatile PCI coal to customers in Japan, Korea and India. Wilkie Creek mine is located in the Surat Basin of southern Queensland. Although mining originally  started in 1994, Peabody commenced operations in 2005. Currently producing around 1.8 million tonnes (2 million tons) of low-sulphur, low-nitrogen, environmentally superior thermal coal, plans are under way to ramp up to 2.5 million tonnes (2.8 million tons) in 2008. Peabody Pacific operate four mine sites in New South Wales. These extend from the Hunter Valley coalfields west of Newcastle to the Southern coalfields just below Sydney. Wilpinjong mine is located 10 kilometres south-east of Ulan mine and 40 kilometres north-east of Mudgee. Mining commenced in late 2006; production in 2009 was 8.3 million tons, and  Peabody plans to make further investments to increase output. Wambo is one of Peabody's largest operating mines and is located in the Hunter Valley, about 30 kilometres from Singleton. Mining commenced in 1969. Wambo produces around five million tonnes (5.5 million tons) of saleable thermal coal a year. Metropolitan is located in the Southern coalfields, about 50 kilometres south of Sydney. The coal leases cover an area of 5,195 hectares. The mine currently produces around 1.5 million saleable tonnes (1.65 million tons) of hard coking and semi-hard coking coal per year. Reserves provide for a mine life of  more than 20 years at current and proposed levels of production. Rio Tinto Coal Australia. In Queensland, Rio Tinto Coal Australia operates the Blair Athol coal mine, Hail Creek coal mine and Kestrel coal mine and is currently constructing the Clermont Mine Project. In New South Wales, Rio Tinto Coal Australia manages Coal & Allied's operations at Mount Thorley Warkworth, Hunter Valley Operations and Bengalla. Hail Creek Mine can now produce eight million tonnes of coking coal. Bengalla Mine is a 6.6 million tonne per year open-cut operation located about four kilometres west of Muswellbrook. The mine produced 5.9  million tonne of thermal coal in 2005, and has marketable reserves of 154.6 million tonnes. The Hunter Valley coal preparation plant (HVCPP) is consented to receive has a capacity of about 20 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) run of mine (ROM) coal utilising dense medium cyclones and spirals. The coal preparation plants at MTW have a capacity of 9 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of feed yielding about 5.8Mtpa of saleable coal, utilising crushing, screening, dense medium separation, froth flotation. Vale. Vale’s global coal business is headquartered in Australia, but includes mining operations in Australia, China, Colombia and Mozambique . In Australia, Vale operates mines in Queensland's Bowen Basin and the Hunter Valley district of New South Wales with a nominal production capacity of 8Mtpa. Vale is also involved in continuing exploration activities with 7,000km2 of coal exploration assets in Queensland. Wesfarmers Coal Ltd. Wesfarmers Ltd is a major diversified Australian public company. Its Resources division has mining interests throughout Australia. Their coal interests include the Curragh coal mine in the Bowen Basin in Queensland (metallurgical coal for export markets and steam coal for domestic markets), the Premier coal mine at Collie in Western Australia's south west (steam  coal for domestic markets), and a 40% interest in the Bengalla coal mine in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales (steam coal for both export and domestic markets). Coal production at the Curragh mine during the 2009 March quarter totalled 2.157 million tonnes, comprising 1.451 million tonnes of metallurgical coal and 706,000 tonnes of steaming coal, down 13.5% on the previous quarter. Whitehaven Coal. A publicly listed mining company, Whitehaven Coal is currently developing and operating coal projects in the Gunnedah Region of New South Wales and exploring other opportunities. Mines. The Group operates five open-cut mines, Canyon  (formerly Whitehaven), Tarrawonga, Werris Creek, Rocglen (formerly Belmont) and Sunnyside and is developing the Narrabri North underground mine. Xstrata Coal Pty Ltd. Xstrata is a major global diversified mining group, listed on the London and Swiss stock exchanges.