Awaroa Coal Mine

This article is part of the Global Coal Mine Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

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Awaroa Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Rotowaro, Waikato, New Zealand.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Awaroa Coal Mine	Rotowaro, Waikato, New Zealand	-37.594308, 175.074334 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

Loading map...

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	1915	–

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.

Capacity (Mtpa)	Production (Mtpa)	Year of Production	Mine Type	Mining Method	Mine Size (km2)	Mine Depth (m)	Workforce Size
–	0.407	2022	Surface	Open Pit	–	50*	167

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt)	Year of Total Reserves Recorded	Total Resources (Mt)	Coalfield	Coal Type	Coal Grade	Primary Consumer/ Destination
0.9	2023	6.1	Rotowaro	Subbituminous	Thermal	–

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
BT Mining	Bathurst Resources Ltd [65.0%]	New Zealand

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker April 2024 release and the September supplement.

Background

Rotowaro Opencast Mine (also known as Awaroa) is an opencast sub-bituminous coal mine located approximately 10 km west of the township of Huntly, New Zealand.

The mine is owned by BT Mining, a joint venture between Bathurst Resources Ltd and Talleys. BT Mining operates the mine, which is owned by Bathurst Resources and Talley's. Mining began around 1915 and the Rotowaro township was built especially for miners’ houses, but was entirely removed in the 1980s to make way for a large opencast mine. “Rotowaro Opencast Mine” refers to three pits which have or are being mined - the Awaroa mine, the Waipuna mine and the Township mine. Currently, mining is occurring in what is referred to as Awaroa 4 pit. The Rotowaro mine is primarily operated under a coal mining licence (CML) granted for a 40 year period on 1 April 1987, which is held by BT. The primary consumers of coal from Rotowaro include Huntly Power Station, the largest thermal power station in New Zealand, Glenbrook Steel Mill, and Open Country Dairy and Fonterra (Waikato dairy factories).

• Operator: BT Mining
• Owner: Bathurst Resources and Talley's
• Location: Rotowaro, Waikato, New Zealand
• Coordinates: ' -37.594308,175.074334 (Exact)
• Status: Operating
• Capacity: 0.4628 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa)
• Total Reserves: 1.4 million tonnes
• Mineable Reserves: 7.9 million tonnes
• Coal Type: SUBBITUMINOUS (Thermal)
• Mine Type: SURFACE
• Workforce: 167
• Start Year: 1915
• Source of Financing: Bathurst Resources and Talley's

Environmental Issues

Solid Energy states that the main environmental effects of the mining relate to the temporary disturbance of the land. The company states that dust and water quality are carefully managed and monitored, and that rehabilitation is undertaken progressively. Ponds, wetlands and a large lake will remain following the completion of mining and rehabilitation.

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Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.