Rolleston Coal Mine

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Rolleston Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Rolleston, Queensland, Australia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Rolleston Coal Mine	Rolleston, Queensland, Australia	-24.456609, 148.404902 (exact)

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

Loading map...

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	2005	–

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
19	13.02	2022	Surface	Open Pit	363	60*	653

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
173	–	850	Bowen	Bituminous	Thermal	Port of Gladstone

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Rolleston Coal Holdings Pty Ltd	Glencore PLC	Switzerland

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

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
ROM	13	15	15	15	12	13	12

Expansion/Extension

Table 6: Project status

* Added capacity of a coal mine refers to the enhancement in the mine's production capabilities beyond its initial production capacity.

Status	Status Detail	Project Type	Project Phase	Added Capacity (Mtpa)*	Start Year
Shelved	Permitted	Expansion	–	5	2025 (planned)

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 Rolleston coal mine is an open cut mine near Rolleston, in the Bowen Basin in Queensland, Australia.

The mine currently has plans to expand the capacity of the mine by 5 million tonnes per annum (from 14 million tonnes to 19 million tonnes). But in 2023, the project is no longer listed on Glencore's list of projects on its website. The mine was bought by Xstrata in 2003. Xstrata was acquired by Glencore in 2013 and the asset swapped hands. The mine started producing thermal coal in 2003.

On its website Xstrata Coal stated that "on the 24th June 2003 Xstrata plc acquired MIM [Mount Isa Mines] and the Rolleston Coal Project was put on hold for 12 months while Xstrata undertook a detailed evaluation of the project. On the 24th of February 2004 Xstrata plc approved the full scale development of the Rolleston Coal Project at 8mtpa with construction to begin shortly thereafter." In 2004 development of the Rolleston open cut mine was approved and construction commenced, with operations beginning in 2005. To extend the operational life of Rolleston open cut until 2038, approvals have been given to expand operations into the site's adjacent leases.

In 2010 the mine sold 8 million tonnes of coal. Xstrata Coal stated on its website, has a "current approved production levels of 6 million tonnes per annum for export out of the Port of Gladstone and 2 million tonnes per annum for domestic use." The mine commenced operations in September 2003.

Glencore states on its website that Rolleston Coal Glencore "holds a 75% share in a joint venture with Sumisho Coal Australia (12.5%) and ITOCHU Coal Resources Australia Rolleston (12.5%)." Glencore, Itochu and Sumitomo looked to sell the mine in 2017, but in 2019 Glencore is still listed as having a 75% interest . In February 2019 Winfield Energy bought out ITOCHU.

Glencore, Sumisho and ITOCHU were looking to sell this mine. The mine was withdrawn from the market in 2018 following its failure to find a buyer.

In 2021, Glencore took 100 percent interest after buying shares from other owners.

Coal is transported by train from Rolleston to Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal which is within the Port of Gladstone and the terminal is part owned by Glencore.

Expansion

Glencore has approvals to extend this mine to be able to extract coal for an additional thirty years, to 2045. The Environmental Impact Statement was for this was finished in 2014. In 2016 Glencore had all of the major state approvals but the mine expansion had not commenced.An expansion has been permitted but has not yet started.

Indigenous cultural heritage

Glencore says, "Archaeological research indicates that Aboriginal people have occupied the region around the Project area for at least 18,000 years, with a marked increase in occupation density in the last 3000 years. When European colonists first arrived in the project area in the 1850s, it was thought to be home to around 500 Aboriginal people. This number dropped steadily due to disease and frontier violence, until the majority of Aboriginal people were removed from the area by the government in the early 20th century to settlements within the region. At the Project Site, a number of Indigenous cultural heritage places of known importance exist. Given the number of known sites and the time and depth of occupation in the region, it is likely that further Indigenous heritage sites of these cultural heritage sites will be managed through Cultural Heritage Management Plans."

• Sponsor: Glencore (100%)
• Parent Company: Glencore
• Location: 16 km west of Rolleston, Queensland
• Coordinates: -24.456609, 148.404902 (exact)
• Status: Operating, proposed extension
• Production Capacity: 12.5 Mt/year.
• Total Resource: 600 million tonnes (2003)
• Mineable Reserves: 173 million tonnes known in 2010, with more to be explored
• Coal type: Thermal
• Mine Size: 36,328 hectares (total area managed by Rolleston open cut with an extension being applied for for an additional 5,649 hectares
• Mine Type: Surface mine
• Start Year: 2005, unclear when expansion will commence
• Source of Financing:

Expansion Details

• Capacity: 5 mpta (19 mtpa total)
• Start Year:

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.