Overview

Mine Type	Open Pit
Stage	Construction
Commodities	Coal (metallurgical & thermal)
Mining Method	Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start	...
Mine Life	...
Snapshot	In August 2020 the Vickery Extension Project received approval from the NSW Independent Planning Commission to operate an up to 10Mtpa open cut metallurgical and thermal coal mine, with onsite processing and rail infrastructure. On 16 September 2021 the federal Minister for the Environment approved the Project under the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act). In April 2023, Whitehaven announced that the Board had approved a ~$150m investment to commence early mining of the Vickery coal deposit, which will utilise surplus coal processing and washing infrastructure capacity at the Gunnedah CHPP. Work commenced in the June 2023 quarter to advance the Early Stage Mining project, including the design of temporary mine infrastructure facilities, preparation and tendering of construction works. Feasibility works are ongoing for the full scale project.

Deposit type

• Sedimentary

Summary:

The Project is located within the Gunnedah Basin, which contains sedimentary rocks, including coal measures, of Permian and Triassic age.

Stratiform bituminous coal deposit of Cisuralian (early Permian) age. Gently folded multiple coal seams, with dips generally less than 10°. Regional dip generally to the southeast. Deposit intersected by 5 major normal faults, and 7 smaller normal faults Igneous intrusions are present and affected areas are excluded from the resource determination process.

Regionally, there are two coal-bearing sequences in the Gunnedah Basin, namely:
-Early Permian Bellata Group (comprising the Maules Creek sub-basin and Mullaley sub-basin, separated by the Boggabri Ridge);
-Late Permian Black Jack Group.

The Project coal resource is located within the Maules Creek sub-basin of the Early Permian Bellata Group. The target coal seams are contained within the Maules Creek Formation. The Maules Creek Formation is the primary coal bearing unit and consists of conglomerate, coal, lithic sandstone and mudstones.

Below the Maules Creek Formation are the Goonbri and Leard Formations, which are basal units of the Gunnedah Basin sedimentary sequence and unconformably overlie the Boggabri Volcanics. The Goonbri Formation typically contains pyritic sandstone, siltstone and inferior coal seams.

Project area, including the target coal seams within the open cut extent, as follows:
- Tralee Seam;
- Gundawarra Seam;
- Welkeree Seam;
- Kurrumbede Seam;
- Shannon Harbour Seam (upper and lower seams);
- Stratford Seam (upper and lower seams);
- Bluevale Seam (upper and lower seams); and
- Cranleigh Seam (upper, middle and lower seams).

Individual coal seams range in thickness from approximately 0.5 m to greater than 3 m.

Two major fault structures are located within the Project region, namely the Boggabri Thrust (to the west of the Project) and the Mooki Thrust (to the east of the Project). There are also a number of minor faults across the Project mining area.

Dimensions
The extent of the potential Vickery open cut resource area is about 10 km northsouth by 6 km west-east, from the base of weathering (about 30 m below surface) to a maximum depth of 300 m. The potential underground resource area is about 10 km north-south by 5 km west-east, to a maximum depth of 600 m.

Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

Operational metrics

Personnel

Job Title	Name	Phone	Profile	Ref. Date
.......................	.......................			Sep 21, 2023
.......................	.......................	...........		Sep 21, 2023
.......................	.......................			Sep 21, 2023
.......................	.......................			Sep 21, 2023
.......................	.......................			Sep 21, 2023

Total Workforce	Year
......	2019