Overview
Stage | Permitting |
Mine Type | Open Pit |
Commodities |
- Coal (metallurgical & thermal)
|
Mining Method |
|
Mine Life | 25 years (as of Jan 1, 2021) |
The Vickery Coal Project was approved in September 2014 to produce up to 4.5Mt ROM coal per annum.
In August 2020 the Vickery Extension Project received approval from the IPC 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.
Works are being undertaken as required for Secondary Approvals such as water, noise, air quality, cultural heritage and traffic management. Additional geological drilling and geotechnical works are underway to help further refine the mine plan and detail design of the mine infrastructure. |
Source:
p. 22,96
Vickery Coal Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Whitehaven Coal Limited) is the applicant for the Project.
Contractors
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Summary:
The Project is located within the Gunnedah Basin, which contains sedimentary rocks, including coal measures, of Permian and Triassic age.
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.
Summary:
The Project would involve expansions to the Approved Mine open cut. Up to eight coal seams of the Maules Creek Formation would be mined, with the Cranleigh Seam generally defining the base of the open cut.
The mobile equipment used for the Project would vary according to the requirements of the open cut mining operations. It would include a combination of excavators and/or shovels and haul trucks, with a support fleet that includes dozers, scrapers, graders, front end loaders, drill rigs and water trucks.
Drill and blast techniques would be used for the removal of competent overburden and interburden material for the open cut.
Approximately 168 Mt of ROM coal would be mined over the life of the Project. By comparison, 135 Mt of ROM coal would be mined over the life of the Approved Mine.
Coal mining would involve loaders, excavators and/or shovels loading ROM coal into trucks for haulage to the ROM pad at the mine infrastructure area via internal haul roads. ROM coal would be either dumped directly into a ROM hopper feeding the CHPP, or dumped onto a ROM pad.
Landform profiling and rehabilitation of waste rock emplacement areas would be undertaken progressively over the life of the Project. Temporary rehabilitation would occasionally be undertaken to stabilise landforms until further mining operations are carried out in the future.
Project mining operations would be conducted up to 24 hours per day, seven day ........

Source:

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Flow Sheet:
Summary:

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Operational Metrics:
Metrics | |
Annual mining capacity
| 10 Mt of ROM coal * |
Waste tonnes, LOM
| 1,707 Mbcm * |
Tonnes processed, LOM
| 168.2 Mt of ROM coal * |
Annual mining rate
| 6.7 Mt of ROM coal * |
ROM coal, LOM
| 168.2 Mt * |
* According to 2019 study.
Reserves at August 31, 2022:
Category | OreType | Tonnage | Commodity | Marketable Coal |
Probable
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
200 Mt
|
Coal (metallurgical & thermal)
|
178 Mt
|
Measured
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
230 Mt
|
Coal (metallurgical & thermal)
|
|
Indicated
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
165 Mt
|
Coal (metallurgical & thermal)
|
|
Indicated
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
95 Mt
|
Coal (metallurgical & thermal)
|
|
Measured & Indicated
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
395 Mt
|
Coal (metallurgical & thermal)
|
|
Inferred
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
110 Mt
|
Coal (metallurgical & thermal)
|
|
Inferred
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
135 Mt
|
Coal (metallurgical & thermal)
|
|
2019 Study Costs and Valuation Metrics :
Metrics | Units | LOM Total |
Total CapEx
|
$M USD
|
......
|
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