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Australia

Aquila Mine

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Overview

Mine TypeUnderground
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Coal (metallurgical)
Mining Method
  • Longwall
  • Continuous
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotThe Aquila mine was placed under care and maintenance in July 2013.

On 9 February 2022, Anglo American announces that its new Aquila mine has achieved its first longwall shear of steelmaking metallurgical coal on schedule and on budget, marking the project’s final stages of construction and commissioning.

The Aquila mine extends the life of Anglo American’s existing Capcoal underground operations by seven years, after the company’s nearby Grasstree mine reached its end of life.

An underground longwall operation at Grasstree is replaced by Aquila.

The mine features two longwall systems which are fully remote capable from the site-based Remote Operations Centre (ROC) on the surface of the mine.
Related AssetCapcoal Operation

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Mitsui & Co., Ltd. 30 % Indirect
Anglo American plc. (operator) 70 % Indirect
Capcoal complex is a joint venture between Mitsui Coal Holdings and Anglo American who is the operator of the mine.

Lake Lindsay and Aquila are owned by the Capcoal Joint Venture and Oak Park is owned by the Roper Creek Joint Venture.

Owing to the differing ownership structure, the attributable shareholding of Capcoal OC (Lake Lindsay and Oak Park) is determined annually using the proportion of the saleable tonnes in the individual pits. The calculated ownership percentage therefore varies each year due to differing production schedules.

In 2023, Anglo American's Ownership percentage in Capcoal Operation was 79.5% for Capcoal (OC) and 70.0% for Aquila (UG).

Deposit type

  • Sedimentary

Summary:

The Aquila deposit occurs on the stable western flank of the basin. The underground Aquila operation extracts the Aquila seam of the German Creek Coal Measures.

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.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

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Production

CommodityUnits2023
Coal (hard coking) t  ....  Subscribe
Coal (metallurgical) Mt
All production numbers are expressed as clean coal.

Operational metrics

Metrics2023
Coal tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 3, 2024
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Aerial view:

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