Illawarra Coal's assets are located in the southern portion of the Sydney Basin within the Southern Coalfield.

The full sequence of Triassic to Permian sedimentary units are present within the Illawarra Coal's areas, including the Permian Shoalhaven Group, Illawarra Coal Measures and the overlying Triassic Narrabeen Group and Hawkesbury Sandstone.

Wongawilli Coal ranges between 7 to 11 m thick and consists of inter-banded tuffs, carbonaceous shales and coal. The basal 4 m contains coal of economic potential and is currently mined at the Dendrobium Mine. The Wongawilli Coal is subdivided into 13 individual plies and 12 partings units and into three working sections as shown in Figure 4-3. The working sections are based on mining experience and are the most relevant division of the seam. The Second Machine Band working section is generally the target of mining at Dendrobium.

Wongawilli Seam is present within the Appin and West Cliff (now Appin North) areas, although a viable working section is not interpreted to occur in the area;

The structure over the Illawarra operation area is relatively well defined based on the geological data available. Seam dips over the area are generally low (1° to 3°). There are localised variations in seam structures. Relatively steeply dipping strata occurring at the Dendrobium Mine between Areas 2 and 3 where dips reach 7° - 8° in an area associated with a small scale fault. The localised steeper dip zones are also often associated with underlying igneous intrusions and domes.

Faulting has been identified across the Bulli Seam Operation and Dendrobium Operation. The faults have been identified by 3D seismic, 2D seismic, underground mapping, underground drilling, de-gassing intra-seam holes and, to a lesser extent, interpreted from floor contours generated from drill-hole data. The faults are predominately extension normal faults, although low angle thrust faults have also been identified (such as Maingate 12 at Dendrobium).

At the Dendrobium Operation only four faults are incorporated into the Dendrobium Operation geological model. Of these, only two are located within the current mine plan:

* Elouera Fault - identified in the old Elouera underground workings, affecting the southern boundary of the area, displacement of up to 20 m.

* WW1 Fault - Small displacement fault (less than 5 m) identified in the northwest mains workings, between Areas 2 and 3. There are a number of features that have been interpreted as probably faulting but to a lesser degree of confidence.

As well as the four modelled faults, there are a number of interpreted fault structures for the Dendrobium Operation. Most of the predicted structures are understood to be minor and not expected to affect mining operation due to their limited throw.

At the Dendrobium Operation Tertiary igneous intrusions, in the form of sills and dykes, post-date the sedimentary strata in the area which hosts the coal. Sills and dykes have been identified through a combination of surface mapping, vertical drilling, in seam drilling, aeromagnetic survey and from mining.

Extensive igneous sills have been identified in the Wongawilli Seam and have had significant impacts on the extent of economic coal at the Dendrobium Operation.

Additionally, there is a swarm of dykes known as the Dendrobium Dyke Zone located directly north of Dendrobium Area 2. The Dendrobium Dyke Zone currently defines the northern limit of the Dendrobium Mine design for Areas 2 and 3.

Dendrobium Mine extracts coal from the Wongawilli Seam of the Southern Coalfield. Three mining areas make up the approved mine plan for Dendrobium and are named Areas 1, 2 and 3 (including 3A 3B and 3C). Longwall mining is currently being undertaken in Area 3B. The mine primarily produces hard coking coal and is approved to produce up to 5.2 million tonnes per annum until 31 December 2030.

Dendrobium Next Domain Project
The Project is seeking approval for the continuation of mining activities in two additional Dendrobium Mine underground mining areas (Area 5 and Area 6), within the existing mining lease.

The Project would support the extraction of approximately 77 Mt of ROM coal from Area 5 and Area 6 (in addition to approximately 35 Mt of ROM coal from the approved Areas 3B and 3C). The life of the Project would be to 31 December 2048.

The Project would involve extraction of up to 5.2 Mtpa of ROM coal from the Project mining areas.

Coal is transported from the underground workings to Kemira Valley Coal Loading Facility via a conveyor network, reaching the surface via the Kemira Valley Tunnel. The coal is then fed through a coal sizer, into a rill tower and deposited onto a 140,000-tonne capacity stockpile. Coal is loaded onto trains via an enclosed railloading chute for transport to the Dendrobium Coal Preparation Plant (CPP).

Mineral processing of the ROM coal produced at Dendrobium Mine is undertaken at the Dendrobium CPP. Coal wash (or reject) is emplaced at the West Cliff Colliery Emplacement Area.

The Dendrobium CPP has the capacity to process up to 5.2 Mtpa of sized ROM coal.

The Dendrobium CPP incorporates:
* Heavy medium drum;
* Primary dense medium cyclone (“DMC”);
* Secondary DMC;
* Froth flotation cells;
* Drum filters;
* Horizontal belt filters; and,
* Media fluid bed dryer.

The Dendrobium CPP comprises a range of componen ........