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Australia

Burton Complex

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Coal (metallurgical & thermal)
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
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SnapshotBurton is an open-cut coal mine which contains three undeveloped open pit deposits.

Burton complex official reopening was held on 4 May 2023. The immediate focus of the project was to invest in the recommissioning of module 1 of the CHPP as well as the Mallawa train loadout and camp facilities. Work commenced on module 2 of the CHPP later in 2023 year, however, this has been paused as the existing capacity from module 1 has proven to meet the coal production needs in the near-term. Completion of refurbishment work on module 2 will be assessed on a production needs basis during the 2024 financial year.
Related Asset

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Formosa Plastics Group 10 % Indirect
Bowen Coking Coal Ltd 90 % Indirect
On 1 July 2022, the Group acquired a 90% interest in the Lenton Joint Venture, which owns the Burton complex. MPC Lenton Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Formosa Plastics Group, owns a 10% interest in the Lenton Joint Venture which owns the Burton complex infrastructure and Burton and New Lenton tenements.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Sedimentary

Summary:

The Burton and Lenton projects area lie within the Permo-Triassic Bowen Basin. Coal seams occur within the Rangal Coal Measures and underlying Fort Cooper Coal Measures which are Late Permian in age. The seams subcrop in the Mining Lease and generally dips at 15- 25 degrees North West at Lenton and mainly 10 to 20 degrees East at Burton with a section in the Ellensfield south pit up to 30 degrees. The main target seams are the Leichhardt and Vermont seams in the Rangal Coal Measures.

The seams split and coalesce significantly along the strike of the deposit. Cumulative seam thickness range between 5m and 10m for all the seams. The drill hole density (core and chip) allows for a high level of confidence in seam splitting, seam thickness, coal quality and location of subcrop lines. The area is structurally complex and the base of weathering is generally between 15m and 25m.

Burton
The Burton deposit is located 120 km westsouthwest of Mackay, Queensland. The ESPN (Ellensfield South (ES), Plumtree North (PN)) deposits occur immediately south of the Burton open cut pits which were mined by Peabody until early 2017. The Isaac Pit is located north of the Isaac River. Burton Mine produced coking and thermal coal for the export market.

The ESPN deposits are located on the eastern limb of the Nebo Synclinorium and target the Rangal Coal Measures (RCM). These coal measures are laterally continuous across the Bowen basin and were mined at the Burton open pits to the north of the ESPN deposits. Underlying the RCM are the Fort Cooper Coal Measures (FCCM) and these coal measures occur within the Permian Blackwater Group. The RCM are overlain by sediments of the Triassic Rewan Group, with Cenozoic cover unconformably overlying the coal sequence.

The RCM are comprised of fine to medium grained sandstone, siltstone, mudstone and coal. They range from 120 – 150 m thick and contain the Leichhardt and Vermont seams and these seams split significantly and coalesce along the strike of the deposit.

The FCCM comprise grey lithic sandstones, siltstones, mudstones and coal. The Girrah coal seam is a thick unit that is high in ash, interbedded carbonaceous mudstones and multiple tuffaceous claystone bands.

Ellensfield is in a structurally complex area with smale scale reverse faults having been identified during drilling and seen in geophysical logs. A fault zone, that contains several large normal faults and trends east-west is present in the northern portion of Ellensfield. Coal strata dips are between15-30° to the east-northeast. Large normal faults that have been interpreted have displacements in excess of 10 m.

Plumtree is also in a structurally complex area; however, the bedding strike is south-southwest with a shallower dip ranging between 10-17°. Several reverse faults have been interpreted with displacements in excess of 10 m.

The Isaac Pit contains numerous small-scale faults with a maximum displacement of 5 m to 7 m. Currently these faults have been interpreted to trend in East-West and almost vertical. Further drilling is required to delineate the extent and scale of these interpretations. Seams dip to the eastnortheast between 9-19°.

The Ellensfield and Plumtree North deposits are split by the Teviot Creek.

The Isaac Pit is bound by the Isaac creek to the south of the deposit with a small unnamed tributary located to the north of the deposit area.

14 coal seam “plies” are recognised in the Rangal Coal Measures in the ESPN deposits, in descending stratigraphic order the seams are named:
• BR
• LU
• LL
• V3U
• V3MR
• V3M4
• V3M3
• V3M2
• V3M1
• V3U
• V3L
• V1UL
• V1L
• GRH1 (Girrah Seam).

7 coal seam “plies” are recognised in the Rangal Coal Measures in the Isaac Pit deposit, in descending stratigraphic order the seams are named:
• BR
• BL
• BV3U
• BV3M
• BV3L
• BV2
• BV1.

The product make-up at Burton has been investigated to contain a split between coking and thermal coal from the RCM.

Lenton
The Lenton deposit is located 120 km westsouthwest of Mackay, Queensland. It is immediately west of Peabody’s Burton Mine which produced coking and thermal coal for the export market.

The Lenton project area is located on the western flank of the Nebo Synclinorium (whose eastern limb hosts the Burton Mine) and targets the Rangal Coal Measures (RCM). These coal measures were laterally continuous across the Bowen basin and were deposited during the Late Permian. Underlying the RCM are the Fort Cooper Coal Measures (FCCM). The RCM are overlain by sediments of the Triassic Rewan Group, with Cenozoic cover unconformably overlying the coal sequence. Tertiary filled paleochannels with basalt and present-day natural drainage channels with Quaternary alluvial sediments.

The Lenton deposit is bound by the Burton anticline to the east and the Burton Thrust Fault to the west. The Burton Thrust Fault is a regionally extensive east-side-up fault that trends north northwest with a vertical displacement of up to 600m. Multiple thrust and normal faults occur throughout the deposit and have been detected by both seismic and drilling data acquisition.
The major coal bearing unit in the Lenton deposit is the RCM, this includes:
• Burton Rider Seam
• Leichhardt Seam
• Vermont Seam.

The RCM are characterised by thick seams of bright coal, separated by tuffaceous and/or claystone partings and sandstone and siltstone interburden material. The underlying FCCM have also been intersected during drilling (Girrah Seam)

The FCCM are characterised by large of interbanded coal (50 cm thick) and stone bands. The economically targeted seams are within the RCM, which typically comprised an average of 50-60 m of alternating coal and interburden material, with a total coal accumulation between 7-14 m. Overall the seam dip is to the northnorthwest with seams cropping out to the south and east.

Thick coal seams, rare basalt flows, rare igneous intrusions, major thrust faulting and occasional normal faulting are characteristic of the Lenton area. Six coal seam “plies” are recognised in the Rangal Coal Measures at Lenton, in descending stratigraphic order the seams are named:
• BR
• BLU
• BLL
• BV2
• VU
• VL

The BR seam is separated from the remaining five seams by approximately 30 m of interburden material consisting mainly of sandstone and siltstone. The remaining five seams are deposited contiguously, and mining scenarios been undertaken for extraction as individual plies or as bulk mining horizons, depending on the target product. The average thickness of individual seams is approximately 1.5 m. The Yarrabee tuff separates the VU and VL seams. The product make-up at Lenton has been investigated to contain a split between coking and thermal coal from the RCM.

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Comminution

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Production

CommodityUnits20162015
All production numbers are expressed as clean coal.

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Production Costs

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Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

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