Dendrobium Coal Mine

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Dendrobium Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Dendrobium Coal Mine Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia -34.419776, 150.826135 (exact)

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

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status Status Detail Opening Year Closing Year
Operating 2002

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
5[1] 2.608 2022 Underground Longwall 350 503*

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
13 428 Southern Bituminous Met GFG Liberty Steel Australia Whyalla steel plant

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner Parent Company Headquarters
Illawarra Coal South32 Ltd [100.0%] Australia

Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)

ROM or Saleable 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
ROM 4[2] 3[3] 4[3] 4[4] 4[4] 3[5] 4[5]


Expansion/Extension

Table 6: Project status

* Added capacity of a coal mine refers to the enhancement in the mine's production capabilities beyond its initial production capacity.
Status Status Detail Project Type Project Phase Added Capacity (Mtpa)* Start Year
Cancelled[6] Pre-Permit Extension 2026

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

The Dendrobium mine is an existing underground coal mine owned and operated by Illawarra Coal, a subsidiary of South32. The mines lies near Wollongong, in New South Wales, Australia.

Illawarra Coal intends to extend operations to keep the mine open until 2048.[7] At present the mine has consents to run until 2030.[8] But the project was cancelled after South32 abandoned the project.[9] The mine began operations in 2002.[7] Since the original application approval the Dendrobium development consent has been modified seven times.[10]

In 2015 there was an investigation into the Dendrobium mine which found that the impacts of longwall mining on one tributary to Wongawilli Creek were greater than had been predicted. As a result, the Department required Illawarra Coal to provide the Department with a remediation plan for the tributary, to be prepared in consultation with WaterNSW.[11]

South32 is a demerged subsidiary of BHP founded in 2016.[12]

BHP Billiton (of which South32 is a demerged subsidiary) stated that Dendrobium "is approved to produce up to 5.2 million tonnes of coking coal per annum with an expected mine life in excess of 20 years." The Bluescope Steel Port Kembla Steelworks and the Whyalla Steelworks "are the major customers. In addition to these Australian based customers; coal is exported via the Port Kembla Coal Terminal to international customers."[13]

  • Sponsor: Illawarra Coal[14]
  • Parent Company: South32[14]
  • Location: 15 kilometres west of Wollongong[10]
  • GPS Coordinates: -34.419776, 150.826135 (exact)
  • Status: Operational[14]
  • Production Capacity: 5.2 million tonnes per annum[10]
  • Total Resource: 446 million tonnes[15]
  • Mineable Reserves: 45 million tonnes (as of 2014)[16] or 92 Mt [17]
  • Coal type: Coking coal
  • Mine Size:
  • Mine Type: Longwall mining and conventional underground mining[10]
  • Mine Depth: 350 m[18]
  • Start Year: 2002[19]
  • Source of Financing:

Articles and Resources

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.

References

  1. (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20240206181403/https://minedocs.com/23/Illawarra-Dendrobium-AREV-06302022.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 06 February 2024. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. (PDF) https://www.south32.net/docs/default-source/operations/illawarra/dendrobium/reporting-documents/annual-reviews/dendrobium-and-cordeaux-annual-report-fy17.pdf?sfvrsn=5cfee253_1. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. 3.0 3.1 (PDF) https://www.south32.net/docs/default-source/operations/illawarra/dendrobium/reporting-documents/annual-reviews/dendrobium-mine-and-cordeaux-colliery-annual-review-fy19.pdf?sfvrsn=d902740d_5. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. 4.0 4.1 (PDF) https://www.south32.net/docs/default-source/operations/illawarra/dendrobium/reporting-documents/annual-reviews/dendrobium-mine-and-cordeaux-colliery-annual-review-fy21.pdf?sfvrsn=5a407bfc_1. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. 5.0 5.1 (PDF) https://www.south32.net/docs/default-source/operations/illawarra/dendrobium/reporting-documents/annual-reviews/dendrobium-mine-and-cordeaux-colliery-annual-review-fy23.pdf?sfvrsn=a1cb0cfb_1. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20240207181405/https://www.mining-technology.com/news/south32-abandons-dendrobium-expansion/. Archived from the original on 07 February 2024. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. 7.0 7.1 South32, "Dendrobium Mine Extension",South 32 website, accessed 20 December 2019.
  8. Australian Government, "Coal", Bioregional Assessments website, 21 January 2019.
  9. South32 abandons $700m Dendrobium mine expansion project, Mining Technology, August 23, 2022
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 New South Wales Government, "Dendrobium Coal Mine Surface Electrical Supply Upgrade Modification", page 1, Planning and Environment, 2018.
  11. NSW Government, "Investigation report into Dendrobium Mine released", NSW Government website, 16 December 2015.
  12. Ewen Hosie, "South32 expects Dendrobium report by Q1 2018, Appin enters restart phase two", Australian Mining, 6 December 2017.
  13. Illawarra Coal, "Dendrobium mine", page 2, BHP Billiton, May 2010.
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named future
  15. Mining Data Online "Dendrobium Mine", MDO website, 30 June 2018.
  16. "Current Activity and Tenements: Coal," "Australian Government: Bioregional Assessments," accessed June 2020.
  17. Form 20F SEC, accessed November 2020
  18. South 32, Mine Plan, accessed September 2020
  19. "DENDROBIUM," "MiningLink," accessed June 2020.