Loy Yang Coal Mine

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Loy Yang Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Traralgon, Victoria, Australia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Loy Yang Coal Mine Traralgon, Victoria, Australia -38.2347, 146.564 (exact)

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

Loading map...

Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status Status Detail Opening Year Closing Year
Operating 1982 2035 (planned)[1]

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
28 Surface Open Pit 12[2] 200[2] 685*

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
1680 Gippsland Subbituminous Thermal Loy Yang A power station

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner Parent Company Headquarters
AGL Loy Yang Pty Ltd[3] AGL Energy Ltd [100.0%] Australia

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

ROM or Saleable 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
ROM

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 Loy Yang coal mine is a surface mine producing 28 million tonnes per annum for the Loy Yang A power station and Loy Yang B power station, near Traralgon, Victoria, Australia.[4] The mine is owned by AGL Energy and is operated by AGL's subsidiary, Loy Yang Power. Legislation passed in November 1976 provided for the construction of a 4,000-Megawatt power generating project with coal supply from a new open cut at Loy Yang.[5] Site works commenced in February 1977 and in 1982, the first dredger at Loy Yang Mine was commissioned and commercial operations commenced with the removal of overburden in 1982.[5]

AGL acquired Loy Yang in 2012.[5]

In 2022, AGL announced a targeted closure date of 2035 for Loy Yang power station as the company reshapes its future energy portfolio.[5] Initially, mining operations were scheduled to cease in 2048 (along with the power station), but in light of this new timeline, the Loy Yang mine will likely also close more than a decade earlier than planned.[6]

  • Operator: Loy Yang Power Management
  • Owner: AGL Energy
  • Location: Traralgon, Victoria, Australia
  • GPS Coordinates: -38.233191,146.565514 (exact)
  • Status: Operating.
  • Production Capacity: 28 MTPA[7]
  • Total Resource: 168 billion tonnes[8]
  • Mineable Reserves:
  • Mine Size: 650 hectares
  • Coal Type: Subbituminous (Thermal)
  • Mine Type: Surface
  • Start Year: 1982[5]
  • Source of Financing:

Community Opposition

On September 3, 2007, activists from Real Action on Climate Change chained themselves to the coal conveyor belt from the Loy Yang Mine which supplies coal to the brown-coal-fired Loy Yang A Power Station and Loy Yang B Power Station in Traralgon, Australia. Two people , and others hung several large banners from the plant. The action took place several days before an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Sydney, and was intended to draw attention to Prime Minister John Howard's failure to limit Australian carbon emissions. Four people were arrested.[9][10]

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. https://web.archive.org/web/20240710230008/https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/sustainability/australias-pit-mines/. Archived from the original on 10 July 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. 2.0 2.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20240125082132/https://www.agl.com.au/about-agl/how-we-source-energy/loy-yang-power-station. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. (PDF) https://www.agl.com.au/content/dam/digital/agl/documents/about-agl/how-we-source-energy/loy-yang-power-station/11149-agl-loy-yang-epa-licence-210601.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. Loy Yang Power, "Mining", Loy Yang Power website, accessed August 2010.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "AGL Loy Yang Power Station - History", AGL website, accessed April 2023.
  6. "Loy Yang", Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority, accessed April 2023.
  7. Australian Government, Queensland Bioregional Assessments, Loy Yan Mine and Power Station, 8 January 2018
  8. LOY YANG POWER STATION COMPLEX, Engineers Australia, July 2018.
  9. Climate Protest Shuts Down Power Station, ABC News, September 3, 2007.
  10. Disrupting Loy Yang, Real Action on Climate Change blog, September 3, 2007.