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Australia

Bluff Mine

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Coal (metallurgical)
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotThe Bluff Mine (Bluff) is an open cut mine. The Ultra Low Volatile PCI I coal produced at Bluff is well regarded for its low ash, high energy and high coke replacement ratio. Bowen operates under an agreement with the QCoal Group to wash and rail coal from Bluff through their nearby Cook Coal Handling and Processing Plant for export through the Port of Gladstone.

Bowen announced on 28 September that the Bluff Mine would transition into care and maintenance, due to high operating costs and royalties, with mining to cease by the end of November 2023. With the help of major service providers (HSE Mining and Qube) ROM production will be optimised during this period. Bowen will assume statutory control of the Mine once in care and maintenance and will continue to meet its environmental monitoring obligations.

Care and maintenance costs at Bluff mine are not expected to be significant with opportunities being reviewed to keep the holding costs at a minimum.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Bowen Coking Coal Ltd 100 % Indirect
Bowen Coking Coal acquired the Bluff PCI Coal Project from MACA Ltd (who were the appointed receivers for Carabella Resources Pty Ltd) in 2021.

Deposit type

  • Sedimentary

Summary:

The major geological units present at the mine comprise the Rangal Coal Measures and the underlying Burngrove Formation, both of the Late Permian Blackwater Group. The Rangal Coal Measures, which are the upper-most Permian unit present in the Bowen Basin, are the focus of coal exploration within this region. The Burngrove Formation also contains coal seams but these are not typically of economic interest, due to their banded nature and high raw ash content.

The mine extracts three target seams (Aries, Pollux and Orion) in the Rangal coal measures at depths starting from approximately 35 metres (western side). The structural geology is characterized by steep dip and thrust faulting typically experienced in other coal mines such as Yarrabee and Jellinbah. The main characteristic of the mine are the reverse faults of the Jellinbah Thrust Belt. The westerly dipping faults range from large regional faults with displacements of up to 100 m to smaller local faults with displacements generally up to 10 m. The tertiary blanket that covers the Rangal Coal Measures ranges from 20m – 40m across the deposit. Multiple cross sections and long sections were created and for each the seam correlation and the geological interpretation was reviewed from first principles.

The coal bearing formations of interest within the project area are held within the Blackwater Group, an upper Permian package of generally uniform sandstones, mud, and siltstones, tuffaceous lithotypes and coal seams ranging in thickness. In the area the Blackwater Group contains the German Creek Formation (Moranbah Coal Measures equivalents), Fairhill formation and the Rangal Coal Measures (RCM). Mined seams are contained within the Rangal Coal Measures with targets including the Aries, Pollux, and Orion seams.

The Bluff resource area is approximately 2.1 kilometres along strike by up to 1.2 kilometres down dip.

It is limited by the Jellinbah Fault in the west and the mined-out area in the north.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

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Production

The Bluff acquisition was completed by Bowen Coking in December 2021 and first coal was mined and shipped in June 2022.
CommodityUnits2023202120202019
Coal (metallurgical) Mt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe0.05
All production numbers are expressed as clean coal.

Operational metrics

Metrics2023202120202019
Coal tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe244,355 t
Stripping / waste ratio  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe61,653 t

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 27, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 27, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 27, 2023

Total WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required 2021

Aerial view:

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