MINING DAILY presents the latest Mining Project Assessments in New South Wales, courtesy of the NSW Department of Planning.
Project: Airly Coal Mine — Capertee
Job Title: Power Line Modification
Status: Adequacy Test
Description: To install a powerline between the Airly coal mine and the Integral Energy supply network along a 15 metre wide and 3.8 kilometre long easement.
Project: Ashton Coal Mine – Singleton
Job Title: Ashton Open Cut Coal Project
Status: DGRs Issued
Description: Extraction of 20 million tonnes of ROM coal from a new open cut pit 3 km south of the existing North Pit at a rate of up to 3.6 Mtpa over seven years and construction of associated surface infrastructure.
Project: Mount Arthur Coal Mine – Mount Arthur
Job Title: MAC Open Cut Consolidation Project
Status: DGRs Issued
Description: Increasing run-of-mine production at Mount Arthur Coal Operations to a maximum of 36 Mtpa, and consolidating all open cut mining operations on the site under a single project approval.
Project: Bulga Mine – Bulga Underground Mine
Job Title: Modification – Beltana VAM Abatement System & Power Generation Plant
Status: DGRs Issued
Description: The proposed modification involves the establishment of a ventilation air methane abatement system and small gas-fired power plant at the Bulga Coal Mine.
Project: Wongawilli Colliery
Job Title: Wongawilli Colliery Surface Facilities Project
Status: Exhibition
Description: Upgrading of personnel facilities at the colliery surface pit top area. This will include a new bath house and an office extension.
Project: NRE No. 1 Colliery – Russell Vale
Job Title: NRE No. 1 Colliery Project
Status: DGRs Issued
Description: Gujarat NEW Minerals Ltd seeks approval for the consolidation of its existing operations, continuation of operations and upgrade of associated surface facilities at NRE No. 1 Colliery in the Southern Coalfield.
Project: Moolarben Coal Mine
Job Title: Modification of the Moolarben Coal Project – Stage 1
Status: Preparing Response
Description: The proposed modification includes: extending the operational life of the approved Stage 1 infrastructure at the mine until 2033; receiving, handling, storing and loading coal from Stage 2 of the project; processing up to 17 million tonnes of run-of-mine coal a year and transporting up to 13 million tonnes of product coal a year from Stages 1 and 2 of the project; relocating the Underground No.4 mine two drift entries, run-of-mine coal stockpile and pit top facilities and rehabilitating the site.
Project: Appin Coal Mine – Douglas Park
Job Title: Appin Gas Drainage Project
Status: Exhibition
Description: Drainage of goaf gas associated with Appin Area 7 Longwalls 703-704.
Project: Duralie Mine
Job Title: Duralie Coal Mine Water Managment Modificaiton
Status: DGRs Issued
Description: Modification to the Duralie Coal Mine development consent (DA 168/99), involving: expansion of the minewater irrigation area; and review of the first flush containment system so as to avoid the need to contain clean runoff from irrigation areas.
Project: Duralie Mine
Job Title: Duralie Coal Project (Clareval)
Status: DGRs Issued
Description: An extension to the mine’s open cut mining operations and an increase in the annual extraction rate from 1.8 to 3 million tonnes over a 20 year period.
Project: West Cliff Coal Mine – West Cliff
Job Title: West Cliff Coal Preparation Plant Reliability Project
Status: Assessment
Description: The implementation of a reliability improvement project at the West Cliff Coal Preparation Plant.
Project: Charbon Colliery
Job Title: Charbon Coal Project
Status: DGRs Issued
Description: The Charbon Coal Project, including: continuing mining operations at the existing Charbon underground mine and Southern Open Cut; extending mining operations by open-cut and underground methods; processing up to 1.5 million tonnes of run-of-mine (ROM) coal a year at the existing coal handling and preparation plant; transporting product coal by road and rail to local and regional markets; and rehabilitating the site.
Project: Lidsdale Coal Loader & Rail Siding Facility – Wallerawang
Job Title: Lidsdale Coal Loader Project
Status: DGRs Issued
Description: Proposed upgrade to the Lidsdale Siding Coal Loader, adjacent to the Wallerawang Power Station and approximately 10 km north-west of Lithgow. The proposal includes: increasing the capacity of the coal loader from 2 to 3.7 Mtpa); receiving up to 3 Mtpa of coal by overland conveyor and 0.7 Mtpa by road; modifying the overland conveyor; and constructing associated infrastructure, including a train loading bin and feed conveyor.
Project: Narrabri Coal Mine – Narrabri
Job Title: P 08_0144 Narrabri Coal Project Stage 2
Status: DGRs Issued
Description: Stage 2 of the Narrabri Coal Project, which involves the establishment of longwall mining operations at the Narrabri Coal Mine. Maximum production is planned to increase from 2.5 to 8 Mtpa.
Project: Northparkes Gold/Copper Mine – Parkes
Job Title: P06_0026 Mod 1
Status: Preparing Response
Description: The modification seeks approval to construct a new tailings storage facility; increase the limit of ore processing to 8.5 Mtpa; extend the life of the mine from 2018 to 2025; install a secondary and tertiary crusher; and upgrade and modify the existing processing infrastructure.
Project: Moolarben Coal Mine – east of the village of Ulan
Job Title: Moolarben Coal Project – Stage Two
Status: Preparing Response
Description: A new open cut coal mine and two new underground coal mines on land to the west of, and adjacent to, the Moolarben coal mine, approximately 40 km northeast of Mudgee in the Mid-Western Region Local Government Area.
Project: Bulli Seam Operations
Job Title: Bulli Seam Project
Status: DGRs Issued
Description: The Bulli Seam Project includes: augmenting, upgrading and using the existing infrastructure at the Appin and West Cliff coal mines; extracting up to 10.5 million tonnes of run-of-mine coal a year from the Bulli coal seam for a period of 30 years using longwall mining methods; processing run-of-mine coal at both the West Cliff and Dendrobium washeries; transporting product and run-of-mine coal from the site by road; disposing of coal rejects on site; and rehabilitating the site.
Project: Ashton Coal Mine – Singleton
Job Title: Modification Application
Status: Adequacy Test
Description: Mining of an additional longwall panel and an increase in run-of-mine (ROM) production from 5.2 to 5.8 Mtpa.
Project: Integra Underground (Glennies Creek) Coal Mine – Glennies Creek
Job Title: Underground Coal Mining Extension Project
Status: Exhibition
Description: Extension of underground coal mining operation.
Project: Integra Open Cut (Camberwell) Coal Mine – Glennies Creek
Job Title: Integra Open Cut Coal Project
Status: Exhibition
Description: Extension of the existing open cut coal mining operation and associated infrastructure.
Project: Austar Mine
Job Title: Austar Coal Project
Status: Assessment
Description: The Austar Coal Project involves extracting coal from longwall panels A6-A17 mining of panels A6 to A17 using the longwall top coal caving method. The project also involves establishing a new pit top facility south-west of Kitchener.
Project: Woodlawn Zinc-Copper Project
Job Title: Reopening of Underground Mine
Status: DGRs Issued
Description: Reopening of the former Woodlawn underground mine to extract zinc, copper, lead, gold and silver and to retreat the current tailings material stored within three existing tailings storage facilities.
Project: Bloomfield Colliery
Job Title: 07_0087 – Preparing Response
Status: Preparing response
Description: The project involves: extending current open cut mining to recover up to 14 million tonnes of run-of-mine (ROM) coal, at a rate of up to 1.3 million tonnes of ROM coal a year; continued use of existing infrastructure; and progressive rehabilitation of the site.
Project: Cadia East Gold/Copper Mine – South Orange
Job Title: Cadia East Project
Status: Preparing Response
Description: The proposed Cadia East Copper and Gold Project includes: extending mining operations by up to 21 years by mining copper/gold ore in the new Cadia East underground mine, continuing production at the Ridgeway and Cadia Hill mines and consolidating the existing development consents; increasing ore production to up to 27 Mtpa and transporting mineral concentrate from Blayney via rail; constructing a new dewatering facility east of Blayney and decommissioning the existing Blayney Dewatering Facility; constructing and operating a molybdenum recovery plant; augmenting the water management/supply system; constructing and/or extending associated infrastructure, plant, equipment and activities; and rehabilitating the site.
Project: Rasp Lead/Zinc/Silver Mine – Broken Hill
Job Title: P 07_0018
Status: DGRs Issued
Description: The proposed Rasp Underground Lead-Zinc-Silver Mine Project includes: extracting 8.5 million tonnes of ore by underground mining methods at an approximate rate of 750,000 tonnes per annum over 12 years; processing ore using a surface crusher and flotation concentrator and managing tailings using a settling facility; constructing and/or extending associated infrastructure, plant, equipment and activities; and reinstatement of a rail spur and transport of concentrate in rail wagons to a smelter and/or port.
Project: West Cliff Coal Mine – West Cliff
Job Title: P 05_0201
Status: DGRs Issued
Description: The proposal involves constructing and operating the surface components of the Endeavour Project. This Project will enable mined coal to be transported by underground conveyor (instead of by road trucks, as at present) from Appin Coal Mine to West Cliff Coal Mine, for washing in the West Cliff Coal Preparation Plant. The surface components include: the drift portal, electric switchroom, substation, conveyor head end structure, winder house, workshop; and a series of coal conveyors, transfer bins and stockpiles.
Project: Avondale Coal Mine – Wollongong
Job Title: P 06_0041
Status: DGRs Issued
Description: The proposal involves extraction of up to 200,000 tonnes pa of hard coking coal from the existing Avondale Colliery and its haulage by road to the Port Kembla Coal Loader. Avondale Colliery ceased production in 1982. Stage 1 (exploration works and the re-opening of the mine portals) is taking place under existing approvals. Stage 2 (the proposal) involves the extraction of the coal and: its road haulage from Avondale 1.5 km to stockpiles at the Huntley rehabilitation site, using existing access roads; and use of back-loading on trucks currently delivering fill material to Huntley to transfer this coal to the Coal Loader for export.
Project: Moolarben Coal Mine – east of the village of Ulan
Job Title: Water Sharing Pipeline – Mod 5
Status: Exhibition
Description: The proposed modification involves: constructing and operating a pipeline to facilitate water sharing with the Ulan Coal Mine; relocating the run-of-mine coal dump hopper and associated facilities;
increasing construction hours to 24 hours a day; regularising mining lease boundary fenceline clearing and
other minor site and administrative adjustments.
Project: Clarence Coal Mine
Job Title: DA 504-00 – MOD 1
Status: Exhibition
Description: Clarence Coal Mine propose to increase coal haulage by road from 200,000 to 500,000 tonnes per year.
Project: Wambo Mine – Wambo Coal Mine
Job Title: Construction of South Dam
Status: Assessment
Description: The proposed modification seeks approval for the construction and operation of a new mine water storage dam and installation of supporting infrastructure.
Project: Duralie Mine
Job Title: Minor Pit Extension
Status: Preparing Response
Description: The proposal involves: extending the open cut mine by 25 hectares to the north, wholly within mining lease ML 1427; increasing the annual overburden mining rate from approximately 5.6 up to 8.5 million bank cubic metres (Mbcm); increasing the total overburden mined from 34.2 Mbcm to 40 Mbcm; maintaining ROM coal production at up to 1.8 million tonnes per year; increasing the mine fleet number to compensate for the smaller capacity of quieter replacement haul trucks; and changing the surface water diversion system and irrigation areas within ML 1427.
Project: Rix’s Creek Coal Mine
Job Title: Cut and Cover Tunnel Project
Status: Assessment
Description: The construction of a cut and cover tunnel under the existing New England Highway, to allow mine vehicles to have unrestricted access between Pit 1 and Pits 2 and 3.
Project: Werris Creek Coal Mine – Werris Creek
Job Title: Mod 5 – Mining Area & Related Activities
Status: Assessment
Description: Werris Creek Coal Mine – Modification to Mining Area and Related Activities (DA 172-7-2004 Mod 5).
Project: Integra Underground (Glennies Creek) Coal Mine – Glennies Creek
Job Title: Modification – Defer Installation of Overland Conveyor
Status: Assessment
Description: The proposal involves amending condition 16, schedule 3 of the project approval to enable a 12 month extension to the latest date for installation of the approved overland conveyor.
Project: Invincible Coal Mine – Cullen Bullen
Job Title: Invincible Colliery – Project Boundary Modification
Status: Assessment
Description: Application to modify project site boundary, so it is consistent with the consolidated mining lease and to amend the orientation of the open cut pit layout (no increase in open cut pit size).
Project: Drayton Coal Mine
Job Title: Modification – Extension to approved mining disturbance area
Status: Adequacy Test
Description: The proposal involves a minor extension (7.5 hectares) of the approved Drayton mining disturbance footprint and the addition of 12 hectares of land to the Drayton Wildlife Refuge to provide an offset for the extended mining disturbance footprint.
Project: United Collieries, Warkworth – Warkworth
Job Title: Longwall 12
Status: Preparing Response
Description: This proposal involves extracting coal from and additional longwall panel (LW 12) as well as first workings extraction within the current mining lease area.
Project: Narama Coal Mine – Singleton
Job Title: Narama Extended Project
Status: Adequacy Test
Description: The proposed modification involves extending the existing mining operations at Narama mine to the east of the approved mining area and the development consent by four years. The proposal also includes ancillary works including the relocation and construction of an erection yard, water management structures and other infrastructure.