The coal is mined from the Walloon Coal Measures, typically the Kooroongarra seam which is up to 3 m thick, the Commodore Seam which averages 5.2 m thickness and the Bottom Rider seam which is up to 0.9 m thick.

Commodore Coal Mine is an open cut thermal coal mine that is located in the Surat Basin near Millmerran, Queensland. Millmerran is approximately 80 km south-west of Toowoomba. A combination of conventional truck and shovel as well as dozer push methods are used to remove the overburden and uncover the coal.

The coal is uncovered by free digging the soft pre-strip material with excavators and removing it with trucks then cast blasting the harder material. Dozers are used to push a percentage of the blasted material and the excavators and trucks are used to uncover the coal. There are three pits at the Commodore mine, A, B and C pit. In B pit there is a thin coal seam that is targeted due to its high energy rating using through-seam blasting. The ability to blast this area only once, targeting both upper and lower coal seams has financial benefits and significant scheduling advantages.

Overburden and waste are stored for later use to backfill pits and to develop the final landform. Progressive rehabilitation is underway. The mine started production in 2002 with an expected lifespan of more than 30 years.

The coal mined from Commodore directly supplies the Millmerran Power Station, which is adjacent to the mine.