The Ulan West underground mines the lower 3 metres of the Ulan seam for thermal coal. The Ulan Mine Complex (Ulan No.3, Ulan West) is at the western limit of the geological formation known as the Sydney Basin and at the southern end of the Gunnedah Sub-basin. The resource coal targeted for extraction is from the Illawarra Coal Measures, which are of Permian age and overlain by sedimentary formations of varying thickness and types including sandstones, shales and alluvium. Ten coal seams (nine in the west) occur within the coal measures; eight occur above (seven in the west) and one below the Ulan Seam. These seams range in thickness from approximately 0.4 to 10 metres (with the Ulan Seam being thickest). Apart from the Ulan Seam, all seams within the mining leases are considered uneconomic in the current market due to their high ash content. The main geological features present within the Ulan Mine Complex and in particular within the underground mining area are Triassic Narrabeen Group sandstones overlying the Permian sedimentary rocks of the Illawarra Coal Measures; and some Gulgong granite. More recent Jurassic Pilliga sandstone (over Gomiala shale) caps the Narrabeen layers in the north east and quaternary sands are present along rivers and major creeks. The Ulan Seam generally dips uniformly towards the north-east at between one and two degrees, and the seam thickness averages 5 to 7 metres (see Stratagraphic Profile) throughout the Ulan Mine Complex. It consists o ........

The Ulan Underground Mine (UUG), the Ulan West Underground mine (UW), the Ulan Open Cut mine, coal processing as a collective, are referred to as the Ulan Coal Complex (UCC).

The Ulan West Mine entry is via entry portals directly into the Ulan seam via the Ulan West Box Cut. The Ulan West Mine Plan has main headings in the south of the mine plan with approximately 400m wide longwall panels to the North. Development of roadways is completed using continuous miners with shuttle cars and conveyors to remove the coal. Ulan West will utilise standard longwall mining methods and target the economic portion of the Ulan Coal Seam. The longwall face is installed at the northern end of the panel and mining progresses south toward the main headings to complete the longwall extraction.

Underground mining operations included development of roadways for LW7 and LW8 and the main headings consistent with first workings approvals. LW6 commenced extraction on 11 August 2020 and is forecast for completion on 7 June 2022. Ulan West LW6 had retreated approximately 4933m, with 2067m to zero chainage remaining at the end of 2021. Ulan West produced 6.961 million tonnes of ROM coal during the reporting period. Construction of Vent Fan 3 adjacent to LW8 and associated infrastructure commenced in 2021. Commissioning will occur in 2022.

ROM coal is delivered to the HUB Stockpile via conveyors from Ulan West underground mine.

Removing the bottom 3 metres of the Ulan Seam reduces the need to wash the coal; approximately < 30% of run of mine coal from the underground requires washing. All underground coal is conveyed to the surface stockpiles by the coal clearance conveyor system. Underground coal that does not require washing is crushed and conveyed directly to the product stockpiles in preparation for railing offsite. The higher ash coal is trucked to the coal wash plant reclaim stockpile where it is picked up by a reclaimer and conveyed to the coal handling preparation plant (CHPP).

CHPP has a flexible 1800 tph raw coal receivals system which allows for either an individual, or any combination of, direct plant feed, raw coal stockpiling or reclamation from the stockpile by a bucket wheel reclaimer.

A 1000 tonne surge bin distributes feed to a nominal capacity 1200 tph between two mod ........