Metallurgical Coal operates six mines in Australia: one wholly owned, and five in which it has a controlling interest. Five of the mines are located in Queensland’s Bowen Basin: Moranbah North (metallurgical coal), Capcoal (metallurgical and thermal coal), Foxleigh (metallurgical coal), Dawson (metallurgical and thermal coal) and Callide (thermal coal). Capcoal comprises two underground mines (Grasstree and Aquila) and two open cut mines (Lake Lindsay and Oak Park);

The Bowen Basin of eastern Australia contains up to 10 km of largely clastic sediment from terrestrial and shallow marine origin along with substantial volumes of economic coals. The German Creek Formation (GCM), the Moranbah coal measures (MCM) and the Rangal Group Measures (RCM) host most of the open pit and underground mining operations. Basin sediments were sourced from emergent volcanic uplands, so clasts are generally lithic and form clay-rich weathering products. The basal unit of the GCM is marine and devoid of coal, and overlain by a delta plain coal bearing sequence of siltstones, some sandstones, and interbedded, often carbonaceous, siltstone and sandstone with coals. The MCM comprises alluvial plain sediments overlying a shallow marine shelf, with sequences of thick sheets of lithic sandstone and interbedded siltstone-sandstone generally overlying carbonaceous siltstone and coal. The basin-wide RCM sequence comprises sandstones, siltstones, interbedded sandstone-siltstone, carbonaceous siltstones, and coals, and is overlain by a noncoal bearing alluvial sequence of massive sandstone and siltstone. Several tuffaceous marker beds occur, some of which are lithified while others form thin bands of high plasticity clay. In most areas there is a Tertiary unconformity overlain by sheets of clay-bound alluvial or lacustrine sediments, and in some areas there are basalt flows.

Deep weathering cycles occurred during Tertiary time, and modern drainage courses include alluvial sequences to depths of 20m or more. Weathering alteration includes leaching, laterisation, and transformation to clay. Depths of distinct weathering to complete transformation range from 15m to 45m. Bowen Basin coal measures rock material strengths range from extremely low (UCS <2MPa) to high (20 to 60MPa) and generally average 10 to 25MPa. Typically material stiffnesses fall into the low to moderate modulus ratio range.

The project comprises a single longwall underground mine and supporting infrastructure. The operation will target two seams, the Aquila and Aquila Lower coal seams. The depth of the Aquila seams from the surface varies from approximately 70 metres up to 280 metres with a nominal seam height ranging from 1.8 metres to 2.2 metres.

The longwall will be supported by two continuous miner development units with ROM coal transferred from the underground development and longwall mining units via a new underground conveyor belt system to a new surface conveyor and onto an expanded ROM stockpile.

The coal will be stockpiled, transported via an existing overland conveyor and processed through the existing Coal Handling Preparation Plant located at German Creek(Capcoal).

Capcoal coal is washed at a Coal Handling and Preparation Plant (CHPP) producing prime quality hard coking coal for export.

After processing, coal is transported 360 kilometres north-east by rail to the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal for export.

Anglo American proposes to lift production across Capcoal’s underground and open cut operations over the next two years to increase the ROM tonnes to the Capcoal CHPP to 15 Mt per