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Australia

Byerwen Mine

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Coal (thermal)
  • Coal (metallurgical)
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
  • Dragline
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotByerwen Project has moved through to completion of the first stages of construction and mining operations for the South Phase in 2017. The North Phase have progressed through the statutory approvals and landholder compensation processes and are awaiting grant. In the interim, Byerwen has commenced initial planning for the North Phase expansion.

Once fully operational, the Byerwen Mine will produce up to 10 million tonnes of hard coking coal per year with some thermal coal.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
JFE Steel Corp. 15 % Indirect
QCoal Group 85 % Indirect
Byerwen Coal Pty Ltd (operator) 100 % Direct
The Byerwen Coal Pty Ltd. is a joint venture between QCoal (85%) and JFE Steel (15%).

QCoal is a privately-owned Queensland company based in Brisbane and has been active in the Queensland coal exploration and mining industry. JFE Steel is a subsidiary of the JFE Group of Japan.

The Byerwen Coal Mine is operated by Byerwen Coal Pty Ltd.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Sedimentary

Summary:

The project is located within the Northern Bowen Basin which is characterised by typical basin fill fluvial (and some marine) sediments, comprising mudstones, siltstones, sandstones and coal seams.

The Bowen Basin contains Early Permian rocks of the marginal marine Back Creek Group, Late Permian coal-bearing (non-marine) strata of the Blackwater Group, fluviatile sedimentary rocks of Triassic Rewan Group, and overlying Tertiary basalt and sediments of the Suttor Formation and Quaternary alluvium deposits.

Coal Measures
The Blackwater Group contains Permian age (i.e. 248-290 million years) coal measures. The Rangal Coal Measures represent the uppermost unit of the Blackwater Group, and although attaining a maximumthickness in the order of 220 m, are generally less than 100 m thick in the project area. Coal from the Rangal Coal Measures may be mined during the latter half of the mine life. The main seam of interest in the Rangal Coal Measures is the Leichhardt seam, a correlation of the Upper Newlands seam which is between 4.5 and 6.5 m thick in the surrounding vicinity.

The Fort Cooper Coal Measures, the central unit of the Blackwater Group, do not contain target coal seams in the project area (based on resource drilling undertaken). However, current coal extraction from the FCCM may be undertaken should suitable seams be identified during operations.

The Moranbah Coal Measures (MCM) are the lowermost formation of the Blackwater Group and represent the main stratigraphic unit of interest in the project area. This unit is approximately 290 mthick in the project area and contains up to seven persistent coal seams. The principal seams of economic interest are the Goonyella Lower (6 to 8 m thick) and Goonyella Middle (6 to 10 m thick). This unit conformably overlies the marginal marine Exmoor Formation.

Geological Structure
The project area is located southwest of the Burton Range Fault Zone, a major northwest trending reverse fault. Thrust faults with a similar trend are indicated to be present in the broader area surrounding the project, and include the Suttor Creek Fault which passes through the project area. The main strike direction of the thrust faults is north-west. Evidence of smaller-scale faulting within the project area has also been identified during exploration works, in the form of seam repetitions and in- seam shear zones. The Permian formations in the project area strike north-north west, dipping to the east at between 4o and 12o .

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

CommodityUnits202320222021202020192018
Coal (thermal) t  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2,332,8461,602,628
Coal (hard coking) t  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe844,58359,894
All production numbers are expressed as clean coal.

Operational metrics

Metrics202320222021202020192018
Coal tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe3,688,456 t1,695,727 t
Coal tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe4,982,422 t of ROM coal2,217,160 t of ROM coal
Raw coal annual capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe15 Mt

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Required Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Dec 22, 2023

EmployeesTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required 2021
...... Subscription required 2020

Aerial view:

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