Drayton mine
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Drayton Mine was an open cut thermal coal mine in the Upper Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia.
The mine was closed in late-2016, after over 30 years of operation.[1]
Location
The satellite image below shows the exact location of the mine in New South Wales, Australia.
Background
Operations at Drayton mine began in 1983 under the ownership of a co-venture between the Shell Company of Australia and Thiess Bros. Pty Ltd.[2]
At some point, Anglo American came to be the majority owner of Drayton mine, with 88.17% interest in the project. The remaining owners were Mitsui Coal with 3.83% interest; NCE Australia with 3% interest; Daesung Australia with 2.5% interest; and Hyundai with 2.5% interest.[3]
In 2008, Drayton received approval for a mine extension, which would extend the mine’s life to 2017 and permit 8 million tonnes of coal per year to be removed.[4] However, for much of the mine’s life, the mine produced about 5 million tonnes of coal per year. By 2011, Drayton was exporting 100% of their coal, including Japanese power generators.[3]
In 2015, one of its last years of production, the mine produced only 1,167,500 tonnes, which was estimated to be the only coal remaining in the mine.[5] In 2016, Anglo American stopped mining operations, likely due to a lack of remaining coal reserves to mine.[6]
As the original Drayton mine closed, Anglo American eventually planned to open Drayton South nearby as a replacement mine. Proposals to develop Drayton South have been rejected twice, the latest in 2017.[7]
In 2017, Anglo American agreed to sell both their 88.17% interest in Drayton mine, and the Drayton South project, to Malabar Coal.[8] Malabar is using the infrastructure present at Drayton mine, including coal preparation plant, train load-out facility, and administrative buildings, for their nearby coal projects, Maxwell project and Spur Hill project. Additionally, Malabar is rehabilitating the Drayton mine.[9]
Project Details
- Operator:
- Owner: Malabar Coal Limited[8]
- Location: 13 km south-west of Muswellbrook in the Upper Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia[10]
- GPS Coordinates: -32.3551139, 150.9007463 (exact)
- Status: Closed (2016)
- Production: 1.167 million tonnes per annum (2016)[5]
- Total Resource:
- Mineable Reserves: 0 Mt[11]
- Coal Type: Thermal[3]
- Mine Size:
- Mine Type: Open cut[3]
- Start Year: 1983[3]
- Source of Financing:
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ [1], Anglo American, Accessed April 2023.
- ↑ "Drayton Coal Mine: Mine Development Proposal," Thiess Bros Pty Ltd, The Shell Company of Australia Limited, June 1978.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "DRAYTON," Anglo American, September 2013.
- ↑ "Drayton," Anglo American website, accessed February 2014.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "ANNUAL REPORT 2016," Anglo American, 2016.
- ↑ Cecilia Connell, "End of an era for workers at Anglo American's Drayton Mine in NSW Upper Hunter Valley," ABC News, October 13, 2016.
- ↑ "Drayton South coal mine," Wood Mackenzie, May 31, 2018.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Anglo American sells interest in Drayton project," Australian Mining, 5 May 2017.
- ↑ "Maxwell Infrastructure," Malabar Coal, accessed June 2020.
- ↑ "NSW Planning Assessment Commission Determination Report: Drayton South Coal Project," NSW Government: Planning Assessment Commission, February 22, 2017.
- ↑ "ORE RESERVES AND MINERAL RESOURCES REPORT 2015," Anglo American, 2015.
