The Caval Ridge Mine (CVM) includes two pits: Horse Pit and Heyford Pit.

The CVM is situated on the western limb of the northern Bowen Basin at the southern end of the Collinsville Shelf. The Permian coal measures in the region dip east at three to six degrees. Seam splitting is common at CVM, specifically in the Horse Pit area, and results in local steepening of the coal seam dips. Structurally there is one major fault in the north of Horse Pit and some minor associated faulting.

Economic coal seams occur in the terrestrial Moranbah Coal Measures (MCMs) and consist of approximately 300 m of labile sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, tuffaceous claystone and coal. Underlying the MCMs is the German Creek Formation: a marine influenced formation with quartzose to labile sandstone, siltstone, mudstone and thin coal seams. Overlying the MCMs is the Fort Copper Coal Measures that are characterised by thick uneconomic banded coal seams and tuffaceous sediments.

Remnant Tertiary basalt flows occur in the north of the Horse Pit. Elsewhere, Quaternary sands and clayey sands up to 30 m thick overlay the Permian sequence.

The targeted seams at the CVM and the Horse Pit include all seams that comprise the MCMs exceeding 40 cm in thickness. The primary seam targets at Horse Pit are the Q seam to P seam, the Harrow Creek (H) group of seams, and the Dysart (D) seams. All seams greater than 40 cm are determined to be targets for coking coal productio ........

Caval Ridge is open-cut, using dragline and truck and shovel fleets for overburden removal.

The Caval Ridge Mine (CVM) includes two pits: Horse Pit (north of Peak Downs Highway) and Heyford Pit (north of Harrow Creek). Caval Ridge Mine Horse Pit Extension Poject proposes to extend the footprint of the existing Horse Pit at the CVM. As a result of identifying efficiencies in mine sequencing and planning, mining activities are currently scheduled to reach the limit of the approved Horse Pit extent during FY2025, with some existing site infrastructure potentially being relocated from 2023. If approved, the extension is projected to extend the mine’s life from the 2030s to the 2050s. Exploration activities will be ongoing for the life of the mine.

The key mining elements of the Project are summarised:
· Extension beyond the approved extent of the existing Horse Pit from FY2025, exclusive of Moranbah Airport and the Moranbah Access Road;
· Maximum CVM ROM coal production up to 15 Mtpa;
· Revised CVM Life of Mine (LOM) to FY2056;
· Development of an Out of Pit Dump (OOPD) in the north-west of ML 70403 (commencing in FY2028);
· Continuation of progressive rehabilitation of disturbed areas with the aim of progressing to a final landform design, including a final void of approximately 680ha in the far east of ML 1775 at the conclusion of mining;
· Continuation of current open cut mining techniques employed at CVM;
· Continuation ........

Impurities are removed through washing and treatment at a coal handling and preparation plant. Coal is then transported by train to port, loaded onto ships and exported to customers.

The existing CHPP has installed design capacity to process up to 19.8 Mtpa of ROM coal, which is sufficient to handle the ROM coal production rates for the Caval Ridge Mine Horse Pit Extension Project in addition to ROM coal transferred from Peak Downs Mine for processing.

ROM coal is transported by dump truck to the Northern ROM Hopper before being transported via overland conveyor to the crushing station where it is crushed, screened and stacked. The CHPP is fed by a single feed conveyor with a feed rate capacity of 2,750 tonnes per hour (tph) through two modules of 1,375 tph each.

Product coal is conveyed through a transfer station to a stacking conveyor and stacker to the product coal stockpiles. The product coal is reclaimed and discharged through a batch weighing bi ........