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The Duralie mine was an open-cut mine owned by Yancoal in the Gloucester Basin of New South Wales, Australia.[1]
Having exhausted its approved commercial coal reserves, the mine closed in 2021.[2]
Location
The below satellite image shows the approximate location of the now-closed mine, which was situated about 20 kilometers south of Yancoal's Stratford mine.
Background
Construction at the Duralie mine began in June 2002, with mining production commencing in March 2003.
Initially, the mine was permitted to extract 1.5 million tonnes of coal per year; this capacity then increased to 1.8 million tonnes per year,[3] and then increased again, in 2010, to 3 million tonnes per year.[4]
The approval to increase mining to 3 mtpa was part of the Duralie Extension Project, which also allowed mining activities to extend until 31 December 2021.[5] While the mine was approved to remove 3 million tonnes per year, in the last two full years of mining, Duralie produced 631,768 tonnes of coal and 657,183 tonnes of coal.[6]
Throughout its time of operation, coal from Duralie mine was railed to the Stratford Mining Complex (SMC) to be processed at the SMC Coal Handling and Processing Plant.
Care and Maintenance
The mine was was put on care and maintenance in 2018. However, Duralie’s 2019 Annual Report indicated that there would likely be one final spurt of mining: “Approximately 400,000 tonnes of ROM coal is remaining in the Weismantel pit and this remaining coal is intended to be extracted between 2020 to 2021.”[5]
Closure
With the expiration of Duralie's mining lease in December 2021, the mine permanently closed.[5] Yancoal Australia states that "the mine's closure is consistent with the planned and approved life of mining for the operations, having exhausted its approved commercial coal reserves."[1]
Duralie is currently undertaking detailed mine closure planning. The mine site's rehabilitation activities—which include bulk earthworks, landform development, infrastructure decommissioning, and revegetation of the final landforms—will take approximately three years to complete, with a tentative completion date of 2027.[2] As vegetation establishes, a further ten years of monitoring and maintenance may be required to achieve the post-mining land use and final rehabilitation sign-off.[2]
Mine Details
- Operator: Duralie Coal Pty Ltd[5]
- Owner: Yancoal Australia[1]
- Location: In the southern Gloucester Basin, 75 kilometres north of Newcastle and 20 km south of the Stratford Mine, New South Wales, Australia[1]
- GPS Coordinates: -32.2972426, 151.93447 (approximate)
- Status: Retired[2]
- Production Capacity: 631,768 tonnes of coal (2017-2018)[6]
- Total Resource:
- Mineable Reserves: 400,000 tonnes of ROM coal remaining[5]
- Coal Type: High fluidity coking coal[1]
- Mine Size:
- Mine Type: Open cut, truck and shovel[1]
- Start Year: 2003[1]
- Closure Year: 2021[2]
- Source of Financing:
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "About", Duralie Coal website, accessed June 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Mine Closure", Duralie Coal website, accessed June 2023.
- ↑ "ASSESSMENT REPORT: Proposed Duralie Coal Mine Extension, NSW Government: Department of Planning, July 2006.
- ↑ Duralie Coal Mine: Independent Environmental Audit Report, Hansen Bailey, February 2018.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Duralie Coal Mine Annual Review, Yancoal, 2019.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Annual Review, Yancoal, 2018.
