Mt Thorley Warkworth Coal Mine
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Mt Thorley Warkworth Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Singleton, New South Wales, Australia.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Mine Name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Mt Thorley Warkworth Coal Mine | Singleton, New South Wales, Australia | -32.60700995, 151.0901636 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:
Project Details
Table 2: Project status
| Status | Status Detail | Opening Year | Closing Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating | – | 1981 | – |
Table 3: Operation details
| Capacity (Mtpa) | Production (Mtpa) | Year of Production | Mine Type | Mining Method | Mine Size (km2) | Mine Depth (m) | Workforce Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | 8.1[1] | 2022[1] | Surface | Open Pit | – | 60* | 1360[1] |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 169[1] | 2022[1] | 1350 | Hunter | Bituminous | Thermal & Met | Port Waratah Coal Services |
Table 5: Ownership and parent company
| Owner | Parent Company | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|
| Coal & Allied | Yancoal Australia Ltd [100.0%] | China, South Korea, Japan, Japan |
Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)
| ROM or Saleable | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROM[2] | – | 17[3] | 17[4] | 17[4] | 16[2] | 12[1] | 17[5] |
Expansion/Extension
Table 6: Project status
| Status | Status Detail | Project Type | Project Phase | Added Capacity (Mtpa)* | Start Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proposed | Announced | Expansion | – | 6 | – |
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 Mount Thorley Warkworth mine (also known as MTW) is an integrated coal mining operation comprised of two adjacent open-cut mines: the Mount Thorley and Warkworth sites. Each of these mines are owned by separate joint ventures.[6]
Additionally, Yancoal, the primary owner of each mine, as well as the operator, is exploring underground mining at the Mt Thorley Warkworth. This has not yet begun but is expected to produce 6 mtpa once it does.[7] Coal mining operations began at both Mt Thorley and Warkworth in 1981. Each has continuously produced semi-soft coking coal and thermal coal for domestic and export markets since they opened in the 80s. The two mines were integrated into one operation in February 2004 to form Mount Thorley Warkworth.[6]
In 2017, Yancoal officially bought all of Rio Tinto’s coal assets in New South Wales, which included Mt Thorley Warkworth.[8] As of 2017, 28 million tonnes of Run Of Mine coal from Mt Thorley Warkworth is permitted in a calendar year, with 18 million from Warkworth and 10 million from Mt Thorley. In 2017, Warkworth produced 14 million tonnes and Mt Thorley produced about 4, adding up to 18 million tonnes of ROM coal. This was pared down to about 12 million tonnes of saleable coal in 2017.[9]
- Operator: Coal & Allied[10]
- Owners (Mount Thorley): Yancoal (80%), POSCO (20%)[11]
- Owners (Warkworth): Yancoal Australia (84.5%), Nippon Steel (9.5%), Mitsubishi Materials (6%)[11]
- Location: Located 15 kilometres south-west of Singleton in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales.[12]
- GPS Coordinates: -32.60700995, 151.0901636 (exact)
- Status: Open cut is operating while underground is not yet[7]
- Capacity: open cut - 12 mtpa,[9] underground - 6 mtpa[7]
- Production: 11.2 million tonnes (2021)[13]
- Total Resource: 613 million tonnes (as of 2015)[14]
- Mineable Reserves: 315 million tonnes (as of 2018)
- Coal Type: semi-soft coking and thermal coal[6]
- Mine Size:
- Mine Type: underground, open cut
- Start Year: Open cut mining began in 1981[6]
- Source of Financing:
two open cut mines located adjacent to each other, 15 kilometres south-west of Singleton in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales.
Opposition (Mt Thorley Warkworth)
In 2019, four Hunter Valley coal mines, including Mt Thorley Warkworth, were issued six notices to fix up their rehabilitation and other environmental management, according to a Hunter Valley News article.[15]
The article stated that: “At Mt Thorley Warkworth, an inspection recognised ongoing delays in the progression of rehabilitation areas; limited documented records to address the risks to rehabilitation; and limited documented measures or actions to improve progressive rehabilitation performance.”[15]
Lock the Gate, an anti-coal coalition, responded in the article that failing to keep up with rehabilitation duties was unacceptable.
Then, in April 2020, the mine was fined $15,000 by the EPA for “a large cloud of blasting dust that engulfed neighbouring properties in August last year.”[16]
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
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20240205195945/https://www.yancoal.com.au/content/Document/230426_ESG%2520Report_Design%2520Format_FINAL.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 05 February 2024.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20240125064721/https://www.yancoal.com.au/content/Document/Yancoal%202022%20Annual%20Report.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 January 2024.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ (PDF) https://www.yancoal.com.au/content/Document/YAL_Annual_Report_to_shareholders(1).pdf.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 (PDF) https://www.yancoal.com.au/content/Document/2204466.pdf.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20240613211315/https://www.yancoal.com.au/content/Media/e101_Annual%2520Reprot%25202023.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 June 2024.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Mining Operations Plan: Mount Thorley Warkworth," "Yancoal Australia Ltd," May 23, 2019.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Louise Nichols, "Yancoal looks at 6 million tonnes/year underground operation at Mount Thorley Warkworth mine," "The Singleton Argus," January 21, 2019.
- ↑ Carrington Clarke, "Rio Tinto's NSW coal mines taken over by China-backed Yancoal," "ABC News," June 29, 2017.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Mount Thorley Warkworth: 2017 Annual Review," "Yancoal," March 2018.
- ↑ About Us," Yancoal MTW website, accessed June 2022.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Mount Thorley Warkworth, Yancoal website, accessed June 2022.
- ↑ "About Us," "Yancoal Insite website," accessed June 2020.
- ↑ Production Report, Yancoal, accessed June 2022
- ↑ "Increase to Rio Tinto Coal Australia Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves," "RioTinto," March 3, 2016.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Lock the Gate Alliance slams Mt Thorley Warkworth, Muswellbrook Coal, Ravensworth Operations and Rix's Creek coal mines following NSW Resources Regulator's recent compliance blitz," "Hunter Valley News," July 19, 2019.
- ↑ Donna Page, "EPA fines Upper Hunter Mt Thorley Warkworth mine $15,000 for dust plume that engulfed neighbouring properties," "The Newcastle Herald," April 8, 2020.
