The Moolarben deposit is located on the western margin of the Western Coalfield within the Sydney Basin where sedimentary strata of Permian, Triassic and Jurassic age dip towards the northeast at 1° - 3° and overlie Carboniferous granite and folded metamorphic basement. The Permian strata comprise the coal-bearing Illawarra Coal Measures and the underlying Shoalhaven Group, which in turn uncomformably overlies the Lachlan Fold Belt basement rocks. Surface Quaternary alluvial deposits and remnant Tertiary basalt flows are common in the area.

The Illawarra Coal Measures are equivalent to the basal section of the Newcastle Coal Measures and the Wittingham Coal Measures in the Hunter Coalfield. Extrusive basaltic lavas and intrusive igneous activity was common during the Tertiary era (< 65 million years ago). These igneous features are usually not significant for open cut mining but for underground operations the impact of unidentified igneous intrusions can be serious from a safety as well as a cost perspective. RPM is aware the Company and its operators are well aware of this issue and continue to monitor and explore to minimise their impact.

The Illawarra Coal Measures are typically 80 to 100m thick within the Moolarben resource area and comprise a sequence of interbedded siltstone, sandstone, minor claystone with up to eight coal intervals, of which the Ulan Seam is the only seam mined. Regionally, the Wollar Sandstone which is a 120m thick sandstone se ........

Company utilises large scale open cut mining methods in open cut mining operations, which include the removal and storage of topsoil material via truck and front-end-loader (“FEL”) methods, drilling of a blast pattern, blasting of fragment rock, excavation of waste material with truck and shovel or excavator in the upper benches and by draglines in lower benches, and digging, loading and hauling of coal via truck and excavator or FEL methods. Open cut mines include HVO, MTW, Stratford Duralie, Middlemount and Yarrabee, as well as portions of Moolarben and Ashton.

Company utilises longwall mining in underground mining operations. Longwall mining roadways are cut by continuous miners around the perimeter of a rectangular block or panel of coal to form ventilation and access passageways. Underground mines include Austar and portions of Moolarben and Ashton.

Now fully developed, mining operations at the Moolarben Coal Complex comprise a multi-pit open cut mine, a longwall underground mine, and mining related infrastructure (including coal processing and transport facilities).

MINING OPERATIONS
Moolarben utilises conventional truck and excavator methods in its open-cut mining areas, and longwall operations in its underground mining areas. Moolarben is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Mining activities were undertaken in accordance with relevant project approvals and the approved MOP. During the reporting period gener ........

All Open Cut ROM coal is washed in a single wash plant which produces three thermal coal products, while all Underground ROM coal is crushed and screened and sent directly to the market (bypass) as a low ash thermal coal product.

- Two/single stage 1450 mm dense medium cyclones (-50 +2 mm)
- Two stage spiral banks (-2 +0.125 mm)
- Two stage Jameson cells for froth flotation (-0.125mm).

ROM coal from the open cut operation is processed through an on-site coal preparation plant while ROM coal from the underground operation is bypassed, in each case to produce thermal coals for the export market. Product coal is loaded onto trains for transportation 270 kilometres through the Hunter Valley rail network to the NCIG and PWCS loading terminals at Newcastle where it is shipped to international customers.

Coal Preparation Plant (CHPP)
The Moolarben CHPP was designed as a 1,800tph, two module plant (2 x 900tph throughput) able to be operated in ........