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Location: 110 km SW from Mackay, Queensland, Australia
Peak Downs HighwayNeboQueensland, Australia4742
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• Peabody Energy (Peabody) (73.3%),
• CITIC Australia Coppabella (14.0%),
• Marubeni Corporation (7.0%),
• KC Resources (3.7%),
• NS Coal (2.0%).
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Coppabella Moorvale Joint Venture (CMJV) coal deposits comprises coal seams hosted within a sedimentary interbedded package of sandstone, siltstone and mudstone. The depositional environment is interpreted as entirely alluvial with little evidence supporting marine influence. Sandy river channels traverse extensive peat mires where the peat mounds constrain the channels. Periodic high sediment flow events occasionally breach the peat levy and form lobed splays of sand and silt which cover and compress the peat. Peat growth establishes on the new surface as the locus of deposition shifts away and a second seam is established. This second seam merges with the first seam at the edges of the splay, often at a steep angle due to peat compaction related bed rotation.The deposit types of Coppabella and Moorvale South are considered to have high geological complexity based on the following factors:- Presence of intrusive sills and dykes within the Coppabella and Moorvale South deposits. This can have negative impacts on coal product yields as adjacent heat affected coal has a higher relative density and can therefore be lost during lower density washing at the coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP);- There are multiple thrust faults across Moorvale South. Whilst tonnages maybe be increased in close proximity to the thrust, quality estimates can vary due to duplication of plies within the seams and existence of fault breccia which may lead to increased ROM dilutions.Burial during the Triassic and Jurassic raised the rank of the coal to low volatile bituminous (ASTM). The major product sourced from the Coppabella and Moorvale deposits is low-volatile PCI coal.The Coppabella deposit lies in the southern closure of the northwest-trending Carborough Syncline forming an arcuate outcrop modified by several faults. There are 4 mining areas from west to east known as; Creek Pit, Johnson Pit, South Pit and East Pit. The Carborough Syncline plunges to the northwest from the mining operations into an area traditionally known as Spring Creek and also referred to as Coppabella North. The mine operations are limited to the south and east by erosion of the target seams and to the west by the northnorthwest trending Coppabella West Fault which has up to 400 m throw and is recognisable over 40 km of strike. Subsidiary faulting associated with this system separates the Creek Pit from the Johnson Pit, showing up to 20 m throw in some areas. Additionally, the area is affected by regional north to north-east trending normal faulting including the ‘Graben Fault’ which shows up to 15 m throw and several smaller northwest-trending normal faults.A major feature of the area is the Cretaceous Bundarra Granodiorite intrusion approximately 12km to the southeast of the deposit. This intrusion has pushed up the formations significantly to the south as can be seen in aerial photos of the area.In the central part of the deposit thin sub-vertical dykes in the order of 0.5m thick occur. The composition of the intrusive is acid to intermediate. The heating aureole around the dykes is thin generally less than 0.5m. The heat-affected coal has been devolatilised from the normal volatile content of approximately 12% - 13%(a.d.) to 3% - 4%(a.d.). A sill also occurs at the seam floor in the current pit.In the eastern side of the deposit intrusion becomes more intense (sills and presumably feeder dykes) and multiple sill horizons occur within the seam. The heat-affected coal is thicker in this area. There are strong indications that the sills appear to stay within particular horizons (floor, roof and top third). Floor and roof stability problems are possible in this area as a result of clayey sills in the roof and floor. The sills do split in places resulting in thin, coked coal plies approximately 0.5m thick between sill layers. The Leichhardt Seam of the RCM forms a thick and consistent seam in this area and is the source of all coal production from the mine. Historical naming conventions have resulted in the seam formed by the confluence of the Leichhardt plies being known as the Macarthur Seam. Numerous roof splits occur with each split thinning the main seam which then becomes known by a different seam name. The Vermont Upper Seam of the RCM and the Vermont Lower Seam of the FCCM are coalesced in this area along with some plies of the underlying Girrah Seam. The high inherent ash of the FCCM coal seams precludes them from the resource estimations at Coppabella.The Phillips Seam marks the top of the RCM and is generally thin and high in ash. Because of this, the Philips seam is also precluded from the resource estimations at Coppabella.The ply nomenclature at the Coppabella Mine differs from the regional convention where the Leichhardt plies are divided into lower (LL) and upper (LU). At Coppabella the plies are similar but denoted LCL for the lower and LCU for the upper. There are 4 main Leichhardt Lower plies, from base to top, the LCL4, LCL3, LCL2 and LCL1. In the northern parts of the lease, a locally developed roof split is denoted the LL1A which is more in keeping with the regional nomenclature applied in the surrounding exploration tenements. The Leichhardt Upper plies are denoted from base to top as the LCU2 and LCU1.
