No 1 Seam The S1 is consistently developed in the western half of the Arnot Project area, while in the eastern portion it only occurs as isolated patches. It is intersected at an average depth of more than 50 m in the underground extents, rendering it not feasible for exploitation in these areas. It does occur at shallower depths of at least 23 m in the opencast areas and remains a good prospect in these resource areas. It is, however, patchily distributed. Where present it is generally 1.2 m thick and consists of a hard, good quality mixed bright and dull banded coal, an average in situ Calorific Value (“CV”) of 25 MJ/kg on an air-dried basis (“adb”). The inter-seam parting between the S1 and S2 consists of a grey micaceous mudstone unit that is usually between 0.7 m to 1.5 m in thickness, which increases up to 5 m at the fringes of the S1 outcrop area. No 2 Seam The S2 is site-specifically subdivided into the Seam 2 Lower (“S2L”), Seam 2 Upper (“S2U”) and Seam 2A (“S2A”) marked by two intra-seam partings, namely parting P2 and P3, respectively. The S2L constitutes the majority of the coal resources in the Arnot area and consists of hard, dull to lustrous coal with several bright coal bands and occasional stone partings. It has a CV of between 22.83 - 23.80 MJ/kg in the underground resource area and between 24.06-24.46 MJ/kg in the opencast resource area. The S2L is continuous across the Arnot Project. The depth to the top of the S2L depends largely on local surface to ........

Arnot Mine commenced production activities in February 2022. Currently, production is from the underground sections of the mine, and a strategy is in place for the development of opencast operations.

The Arnot Colliery has been producing thermal coal for more than 40 years, using various mining methods including underground bord and pillar as well as opencast operations (between 1971 and 2015).

At the time of the mine being put into care and maintenance, only underground areas were being exploited using continuous miners.

Underground bord and pillar mining utilising continuous miners and shuttle cars is considered as the optimal mining method for the mining of the initial reserve. An eight-degree ramp, 8.0 m wide, shall give access into the box cut and to the underground entrance portals. The inclination of the ramp shall allow rubber-wheeled equipment to travel up and down the ramp unassisted. The basis of the selected position of the boxcut is on the most practical underground mining layout with the least conveyor belt transfer points.

The main underground trunk conveyor belt shall run in a north-western direction to the northwestern end of the mining layout. Continuous miners shall be deployed to cut and load the ROM coal into shuttle cars. Shuttle cars shall be utilised to deliver the ROM coal to a system of conveyor belts that shall deliver the coal to the surface by a shaft conveyor belt.

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