Abel Coal Mine
The Abel Coal Mine was an underground bord and pillar operation that commenced mining in 2007, and in 2016 it was placed in care and maintenance. It is located approximately 25 kilometers from the Port of Newcastle.
Location
Background
Located in the Hunter Valley, the Abel Coal Mine is one of 3 mines operated by Donaldson Coal.
After mining began in 2008, an extension was suggested to the Abel mine, to be introduced in 2013. This would involve mining in the upper and lower Donaldson seams, the Ashtonfield seam and the Sandgate seam.[1] It is unclear whether this attempt at extension were successful or not.
In 2015, Yancoal Australia cut over 200 jobs from the Austar and Abel coal mines, both of whcih are in the Hunter Valley region.[2] In response, Lock the Gate Alliance said that the announcement showed “the urgent need for structural adjustment in the thermal coal mining sector, as the local industry flounders in response to the structural decline of thermal coal globally.”
“It’s increasingly clear that planning approvals to expand coal production are not delivering stable jobs and that the Government has failed to meet the challenges of the changing global coal market,” said the Lock the Gate Alliance New South Wales spokesperson Georgina Woods in a statement.[2]
Finally, in 2016, Yancoal announced that Abel would be shutting down, alongside the Donaldson Coal Mine.[3]
Project Details
- Sponsor: Donaldson Coal [4]
- Parent Company: Yancoal Australia[4]
- Location: located approximately 25km from the Port of Newcastle[4]
- GPS Coordinates: -32.8150224,151.5927636 (approximate)
- Status: retired in 2017[4]
- Production Capacity: 2 million tonnes of coal per annum[5]
- Total Resource:
- Mineable Reserves: 45-55 mt[6]
- Coal type: thermal and semi-soft coking coal[7]
- Mine Size: 2750 hectares[6]
- Mine Type: underground[4]
- Start Year: 2007[4]
- Source of Financing:
- ↑ Gloucester Coal: ACQUISITION OF DONALDSON COAL AND MONASH GROUP AND ENTITLEMENT OFFER TO RAISE A$230M, Open Briefing website, May 16, 2011
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Yancoal job cuts follow expansion approval: systemic adjustment needed, Lock the Gate Alliance, July 24, 2015
- ↑ Yancoal’s Donaldson coal to shut down, Australian Mining, March 3, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 About: ABEL, Donaldson Coal company, accessed April 10, 2020
- ↑ "Donaldson Coal Mine," "Yanzhou Coal Mining Company Limited," accessed June 2020
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Major Project Assessment: Abel Coal Project, NSW Government: Department of Planning, June 2007
- ↑ All Mine Sites: DONALDSON*, Yancoal Australia website, Accessed April 10, 2020
