Overview

Mine Type	Open Pit & Underground
Status	Active
Commodities	Coal (metallurgical) Coal (thermal)
Mining Method	Truck & Shovel / Loader Dragline Longwall
Production Start	...
Mine Life	...
Snapshot	Capcoal comprises opencast operations at Lake Lindsay and Oak Park, with an underground longwall operation at Aquila. An underground longwall operation at Grasstree is replaced by Aquila.
Related Assets	Aquila Mine, Capcoal Mine, Grasstree Mine

Deposit type

• Sedimentary

Summary:

The Capcoal complex consists of the Capcoal Open Cut and Grasstree, Aquila underground mines, near Middlemount, in Bowen Basin.

The majority of coal of Capcoal (OC) is mined from the German Creek Formation, which contains five coal seam intervals known as the German Creek, Corvus, Tieri, Aquila and Pleiades seams.

The Aquila is planning to extract reserves from the Aquila and Aquila Lower seams, which occur in the upper part of the German Creek formation.

The project is located on the north-western flank of the Bowen Basin, a sedimentary basin comprising Permian to Triassic age geology. The Triassic strata sub-crop at least 5 km east of the project longwall mining area and are not present within the project longwall mining area or its surrounds.

A veneer of more recent Tertiary and Quaternary age sediments typically overlie the Bowen Basin strata.

The relevant geology in the vicinity of the project longwall mining area includes:
-Quaternary alluvium associated with German Creek and Little Parrot Creek;
-A veneer of Tertiary sediments of the Duaringa Formation;
-Permian coal measures including the target German Creek Seam (GC seam).

Alluvium is absent from the project longwall mining area. Regionally, the distribution of alluvium is limited to localised deposits associated with ephemeral creeks. The German Creek alluvium is located to the south of the project longwall mining area and the Little Parrot Creek alluvium is located approximately 1.6 km north-east of the project longwall mining area. In these areas, the creeks are typically incised into the landscape exposing the underlying rock in the creek bed and banks. Where present, there is typically less than 5 m of alluvium in the creek beds. Floodplain alluvial deposits are localised to the inside of meander bends and areas where the creek is less incised. In these areas the floodplain alluvium typically ranges from a few centimetres to 4 m thick. Alluvium is not present outside this localised area of creek and floodplain deposits.

The Tertiary sediments comprise a heterogeneous profile of semi-consolidated sandstone, mudstone and other minor sediments. The Tertiary sediments are widely distributed over the northern portion of the project longwall mining area and its surrounds where they form an elevated desiccated plateau. The Tertiary sediments are typically less than 40 m thick in these areas, thinning to the west and south as the landscape transitions to lower lying sandy plains. The Tertiary sediments have been superficially weathered resulting in the formation of a thin, heterogeneous layer of residual soils and weathered clays.

The Permian coal measures include the Rangal Coal Measures, the Burngrove Formation, the Fort Cooper Coal Measures (also known as the Fairhill Formation), the Macmillan Formation and the German Creek Formation. The coal measures comprise a sedimentary sequence with interbedded coal seams, including the target GC seam. The upper profile of the coal measures has been extensively and deeply weathered. The weathered coal measures outcrop at the surface across the southern portion of the project longwall mining area and much of the surrounding area, forming undulating sandy plains. In the northern portion of the project longwall mining area, the coal measures sub-crop under the Tertiary sediments and dip to the east. As the coal measures dip to the east, the depth of the GC seam increases from approximately 330 m in the south-western part of the project longwall mining area to a maximum depth of approximately 540 m at the north-eastern extent of the project longwall mining area.

Mining Methods

- subscription is required.

Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Processing

- subscription is required.

Production

Commodity	Units	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
Coal (thermal)	t	....	....	....	....	400,411	412,687	351,755
Coal (hard coking)	t	....	....	....	....	8,392,792	8,624,161	8,451,172
Coal (PCI)	t	....	....

Operational metrics

Metrics	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016
Coal tonnes mined	....	....	....	....	11,813,955 t	11,959,388 t	11,573,409 t	16,082,532 t

Personnel

Job Title	Name	Profile	Ref. Date
.......................	.......................		Mar 7, 2024
.......................	.......................		Mar 6, 2024
.......................	.......................		Mar 5, 2024
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Employees	Contractors	Total Workforce	Year
		......	2022
......	......	......	2019
......	......	......	2018
		......	2016
		......	2013