Overview
Stage | Production |
Mine Type | Open Pit |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
|
Processing |
- CHPP
- Crush & Screen plant
- Dewatering
- Vacuum filtration
- Wet Screening
- Spiral concentrator / separator
- Desliming
- Flotation
- Dense media separation
|
Mine Life | 7 years (as of Jan 1, 2021) |
August 5, 2020 - Peabody Energy, Inc. restructured the Coppabella and Moorvale mines to operate as a single mining complex, which is anticipated to result in increased efficiencies and lower costs. |
Source:
p. 665-666
Coppabella Moorvale Joint Venture (CMJV) coal mining operations are managed by Peabody Energy Australia PCI Pty Ltd (PEA PCI) on behalf of the CMJV which is structured as follows:
• Peabody Coppabella Pty Ltd 73.3%;
• CITIC Australia Coppabella Pty Ltd 14.0%;
• Winchester Coal Operations Pty Ltd 7.0%;
• KC Resources Pty Ltd 3.7%;
• NS Coal Pty Ltd 2.0%.
Summary:
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 but coking and thermal fractions are locally generated through beneficiation of the seams at Moorvale. Moorvale South is expected to produce predominantly Semi-Hard Coking Coal through blending of seams within that deposit, with PCI and Thermal produced where the washed qualities don’t support creation of a Semi-Hard Coking Coal (SHCC) product.
Moorvale
The Moorvale deposit lies approximately 15 km to the southwest of Coppabella where the sediments have been raised in a ring around the Bundarra Granodiorite. The strata strike north-east and dip westwards into the Nebo Synclinorium at 6 to 20 .
Numerous normal faults radiate away from the Bundarra Granodiorite in a northwest direction and these are likely to be associated with the late movement of the strata associated with the emplacement of this intrusive unit. Reverse faults are also evident at Moorvale mine, these appear to be reactivated faulting of previous normal faults.
The plies of the Phillips and Leichhardt Seams are coalesced across most of the deposit forming a single 10 m thick seam which is the source of all coal production from the mine. To the north and south, several roof splits occur. Below the base of the Leichhardt seam is characterized by a carboneous mudstone unit often referred to as a the HAF (High Ash Floor).
The Vermont seams have been intersected in a few holes at Moorvale mine. However, they are not currently targeted for mining at Moorvale mine as they are considered uneconomic due too high ash content and low yield.
The coal plies at Moorvale retain the regional naming convention and are denoted from top to base as the PHI (Phillips), LU1 (Leichhardt Upper 1), LU2 (Leichhardt Upper 2), LL1T (Leichhardt Lower 1 Top), LL1B (Leichhardt Lower 1 Base), LL2 (Leichhardt Lower 2).
The main seam is also divided according to the coal quality properties which reflect the dulling upwards trend in the coal seams of the RCM. There are 3 working sections with the aim of producing 3 mining products. Generally the Top Working Section (TWS) comprises the Phi ply and LU1 ply to produce a PCI product. The Middle Working Section (MWS) comprises the LU2 and LL1T plies and produces a high ash PCI product. The Lower Working Section (LWS) comprises the LL1B and LL2 plies and produces a coking or PCI product. Ply combinations for the working sections can vary towards the north and south of the deposit, depending on the qualities required to meeting blending requirements.
Moorvale South
The Moorvale South tenements cover an area of the Nebo Synclinorium where the geological structure is dominated by a series of Cretaceous intrusions formed along an east-northeast trending lineament. The westerly dipping seams of the Moorvale deposit strike southwards through MDL 3034 following the arcuate trend around the eastern Bundarra Igneous Complex intrusions, significantly narrowing the main syncline. Several smaller intrusions are inferred to the west including the Daunia intrusion which forms a ring-like structure in the southwest of MDL 3034. The proposed initial mining area is located further south on ML 70354, along the western limb of the Coxendean Syncline where the seams dip to the east between 5 and 20 . Localised intrusions have been encountered through exploration drilling within the Leichardt and Vermont seams in this area, causing the seam to be heat-affected and partially replaced by the intrusion. The intrusion is modelled as parting in this instance.
The project area features a series of faults interpreted from drilling information, geophysical surveys and geological modelling. Interpreted project area thrust faulting is generally observed to trend northwest-southeast and possess displacements of up to =30m.
Identified coal resources are predominantly hosted in the Leichhardt Seam package with lesser contributions from the Vermont Seam. Within ML 70354, the Leichhardt Seam package occurs as 2 seams; the LL2 and LL3, and the Vermont Seam package comprises the VU of the RCM and the VL1 of the FCCM. The LL2 is composed of the LL2T and LL2B plies which together range from 2.8 to 4.8 m thick. The coal is generally banded with the proportion of bright to dull bands increasing towards the base. The LL3 comprises interbedded carbonaceous mudstone and bright coal bands, ranging from 1.0 to 1.6 m thick averaging 1.5 m.
The Vermont Seam occurs approximately 40 m below the LL3 and comprises the Vermont Upper (VU) and Vermont Lower (VL) separated by the Yarrabee Tuff (YT). The VU is further divided into a dull, upper ply (VU1) and brighter lower plies (VU2 and VU3). The combined VU ranges from 2.5 to 3.7 m thick and is heavily intruded and cindered in the southern half of ML 70354. The VL seam is also divided into 3 plies; an upper, banded coal (VL1) and 2 lower, stony coals (VL2 and VL3). The VL1 averages 1.3 m thick and is the only FCCM ply contributing to the Moorvale South resource in the Y-pit and Y-pit North areas only.
Summary:
Conventional open cut mining methods are used at the CMJV Coal Mines. Moorvale and Moorvale South use diesel hydraulic excavators only. All mines utilize cast and dozer push operations where applicable.
Mining Process
The general sequence of open cut mining is as follows:
1. Vegetation clearance and removal (including mulching).
2. Topsoil/subsoil stripping by scrapers and/or dozers with additional loading and haulage undertaken with excavators and truck. Stripped topsoil is used directly in progressive rehabilitation or is placed in stockpiles for later re-use.
3. Drilling and blasting of overburden, with some waste rock ‘cast blast’ into the adjacent mined-out strip.
4. In appropriate pit geometries, dozer pushing of blasted overburden into the adjacent mined-out strip to expose the target seam, or removal with excavator and haul truck.
5. Where required, drilling and blasting plus ripping of coal/parting material.
6. Mining of exposed coal seams by excavator and loading into haul trucks for transport directly to the ROM dump hopper or ROM pads.
7. Interburden/parting material is then drilled and blasted, ripped, pushed, or excavated and hauled to expose the underlying working coal sections.
8. Coarse rejects and tailings from the CHPP are selectively placed within mine voids, waste rock emplacements, and approved co-disposal storage facilities.
9. Hauled overburden/interburden/parting material is placed within mine voids and associated waste rock emplacements to develop the final landform.
10. Progressive landform profiling and rehabilitation of mine voids and waste rock emplacements. In some areas, temporary rehabilitation is undertaken to stabilise landforms until further mining operations are carried out in the future.
ROM coal is either hauled directly to a ROM dump hopper and conveyed to the CHPP for processing, or delivered to ROM pads and later rehandled to the ROM dump hopper using a front end loader and trucks.
These mining methods have been used for many years to successfully recover coal at the Moorvale operation. There are no current plans to mine coal on the CMJV mining leases by underground methods, however, this has been considered in the past and will continue to be evaluated in the future.
The coal mining at Moorvale is very sporadic, driven by the depth of cover and multiple waste horizons that need to be removed before coal can be mined.
Moorvale South is under construction, with first coal mining planned in Q1 of 2022.
The Moorvale South Project is under development. When commissioned, this project is expected to generate ~1-1.5Mtpa of SemiHard Coking and PCI Coal. ROM Coal from Moorvale South will be processed through the Moorvale CHPP.
Processing
- CHPP
- Crush & Screen plant
- Dewatering
- Vacuum filtration
- Wet Screening
- Spiral concentrator / separator
- Desliming
- Flotation
- Dense media separation
Flow Sheet:
Summary:
The CMJV operates two separate Coal Handling and Processing Plants (CHPPs). The Moorvale CHPP is located in the centre of the Moorvale Mining Leases and is used to process coal from both Moorvale and, from 2022 and beyond, Moorvale South. These CHPPs use similar methods to process the raw coal feed into coal products.
Coal Handling and Processing Plants
The CHPPs incorporate five key circuits for the treatment of the ROM coal, being: ROM circuit; dense medium circuit; spirals circuit; flotation circuit; and thickener circuit.
ROM circuit
ROM coal from the open cut pits at the CMJV Coal Mines is transported via internal haul roads for direct dumping to the ROM hopper, or rehandled from a main or satellite ROM pad to the dump hopper. A static grizzly prevents oversize lumps from entering the ROM bin. In some cases, where the ROM Coal includes significant volumes of intrusive material, ROM coal is pre-grizzled in the ROM stockpile yard area. The grizzly reject material will ty ........

Production:
Commodity | Units | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
Coal (PCI)
|
M tons
| ......  | ......  | ......  | 2.9 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 3 |
Heat Content | BTU/lb | | 12,500 | 12,500 | 12,500 | 12,500 | 12,500 | 12,500 |
All production numbers are expressed as clean coal.
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Operational Metrics:
Metrics | 2020 |
Plant annual capacity
| ......  |
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Reserves at December 31, 2021:
Category | Tonnage | Commodity |
Proven
|
8.19 M tons
|
Coal (PCI)
|
Probable
|
2.73 M tons
|
Coal (PCI)
|
Proven & Probable
|
10.91 M tons
|
Coal (PCI)
|
Measured
|
28.65 M tons
|
Coal (PCI)
|
Indicated
|
28.65 M tons
|
Coal (PCI)
|
Measured & Indicated
|
57.3 M tons
|
Coal (PCI)
|
Inferred
|
15 M tons
|
Coal (PCI)
|
Aerial view:
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