Summary

Mine Type	Underground
Status	Active
Commodities	Coal (metallurgical)
Mining Method	Longwall Continuous
Production Start	...
Mine Life	...
Snapshot	Aquila Mine is one of Australia’s most advanced underground mines, utilizing Anglo American’s technology in automation, remote operations, and data analytics. The mine features two longwalls that operate without the usual downtime for moves, both of which can be remotely controlled from the surface-based operations center. An underground longwall operation at Grasstree is replaced by Aquila in 2022. The mine produces premium low-volatile hard coking coal. The raw coal is transported to the CHPP at the Capcoal Mining Complex on ML1831 (German Creek Mine). Product coal from the CHPP is loaded to the train load out facility at the existing German Creek rail loop and railed to DBCT at the Port of Hay Point for export.

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.

Aquila and Aquila Lower seams occur in the upper part of the German Creek formation. The Aquila mine is operating as an additional extension to the life of Grasstree Mine.

Aquila deposit 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

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Processing

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Commodity Production

Commodity	Units	2024	2023
Coal (hard coking)	t	....	....
Coal (metallurgical)	Mt

Operational metrics

Metrics	2024	2023
Coal tonnes mined	....	....
Tonnes processed	....	....

Personnel

Job Title	Name	Profile	Ref. Date
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