Mount Arthur Coal Mine

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Mount Arthur Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Mount Arthur Coal Mine	Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia	-32.337022, 150.856144 (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	2030 (planned)

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
32	19.82	2022	Surface	Open Pit	64	60*	498*

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
126	2023	136	Syndey	Bituminous	Thermal	Bayswater power station

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Hunter Valley Energy Coal	BHP Group Ltd [100.0%]	Australia

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

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
ROM	23	23	25	21	19	19	20

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

Mount Arthur coal mine is a surface mine near the town of Muswellbrook in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. On its website the company states that the mine produces up to 20 million tonnes per annum for domestic and export power generation. A 2009 document from the company states that the mine can produce up to 28 million tonnes per annum. A 2009 environmental assessment states that "export coal is loaded onto trains via the Bayswater Rail Loading Facility whilst domestic coal is transported via conveyor directly to Macquarie Generation's Bayswater power station".

Protest

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Greenpeace protest against Mt Arthur Coal

In June 2011 a Greenpeace activist locked himself in a box fixed to a railway line used by the Mt Arthur coal mine in a protest calling on BHP Billiton to pay a price on carbon. Four protesters were arrested by New South Wales Police.

BHP Billiton sale

In June 2020 BHP Billiton was reported to have initiated the sale of the Mount Arthur mine by appointing JPMorgan Chase and Australian bank Macquarie as advisors. Reuters reported banking sources suggesting that the sale could take place by the end of 2020, with Australia’s Whitehaven Coal Ltd, China’s Yancoal and India’s Adani Enterprises thought to be potential buyers.

• Sponsor:
• Parent Company: BHP Billiton
• Location: Muswellbrook in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia.
• GPS Coordinates: -32.346525,150.8951 (exact)
• Status: Operating
• Production Capacity: 17 Mt/year
• Total Resource: 213 million tonnes
• Minable Reserves:
• Coal type: Met
• Mine Size:
• Mine Type: surface
• Mining Method: opencut
• Start Year:1968
• Source of Financing:

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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.