Overview
| Status | Care and Maintenance |
| Mine Type | Underground |
| Commodities |
- Coal (metallurgical & thermal)
|
| Mining Method |
- Split-shooting
- Bord-and-pillar
|
| Production Start | ...  |
Wongawilli Colliery (WWC) is currently under Care and Maintenance. The equipment were recovered and transferred to RVC (Russell Vale Colliery) and works related to the regulatory compliances and sealing the old portal entries continues.
The Modification 2 application (Mod 2) to renew and develop the North West Mains Driveage (NW Mains) was lodged in November 2020 and progressing as per the process.
The Mod 2 proposes to extend the life of WWC to allow for the development of the NW Mains Driveage, by 5 years to 31 December 2025, along with minor changes to the WWC’s surface infrastructure. |
Source:
p. 1
Wollongong Coal owns Wongawilli mine.
Contractors
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Summary:
WCL Wongawilli Colliery contains three coal seams of potential economic extraction. These are the Bulli Seam, Wongawilli Seam and Tongarra Seam.
Wollongong Coal Wongawilli Colliery is located in the Southern Coalfield, which is the southern portion of the Permo-Triassic Sydney Basin and contains the Illawarra Coal Measures of Late Permian Age. Overlying the Illawarra Coal Measures are sandstones, shales and mudstones of the Narrabeen Group, which in turn are overlain by the Hawkesbury Sandstone, a massive quartzose sandstone unit. The Wianamatta Group, stratigraphically above the Hawkesbury Sandstone, is the top most unit in the Southern Coalfield.
Bulli Coal
The Bulli Coal is the most extensively worked coal seam in the Southern Coalfield, from outcrop mines on the coastal margins to current inland mines of South 32 and Glencore. The seam produces a hard coking coal usually needing beneficiating to two products (coking and energy) to obtain a marketable low ash coking coal. In the southern areas of the Coalfield the Bulli Seam has been worked extensively in the former Mt Kembla, Tom Thumb and Kemira Collieries and to a lesser extent at Wongawilli Colliery. The seam is poorly developed to the south / southwest in Wongawilli Colliery.
Wongawilli Coal
The Wongawilli Coal is generally about 9 to 11m thick across the Coalfield and consists of interbedded bands of (usually) kaolinitic brown mudstone (with occasional thin pyrite or side ........
Mining Methods
- Split-shooting
- Bord-and-pillar
Summary:
Events involving difficult geological conditions and financial issues saw the WWC go into care and maintenance in July 2014.
The WWC (Wongawilli Colliery) recommenced operations in August 2016 under the contractual operation of Delta SBD. Delta used the split and lifts bord and pillar method and mined the Wongawilli Seam until going into administration at the end May 2017.
Operations at WWC resumed in August 2018 but ceased in March 2019 due to frequent roof falls making operations riskier and less economical. WLC has submitted an application for an extension to the current mining approval. Currently, the application is under review by the department. WLC has also evaluated different mining sections to resume the mining activity.
Source:
Summary:
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Reserves at August 31, 2017:
| Category | Tonnage | Commodity |
|
Measured
|
41 Mt
|
Coal (metallurgical & thermal)
|
|
Indicated
|
70 Mt
|
Coal (metallurgical & thermal)
|
|
Inferred
|
258 Mt
|
Coal (metallurgical & thermal)
|
|
Total Resource
|
369 Mt
|
Coal (metallurgical & thermal)
|
Source:
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