Overview

Mine Type	Open Pit
Status	Care and Maintenance
Commodities	Coal (metallurgical)
Mining Method	Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start	...
Snapshot	The Bluff mine was acquired in late 2021. Operations restarted in April 2022 and achieved its first coal shipment in just under four months. Bluff’s coal was processed at the nearby Cook Colliery CHPP under an agreement with the QCoal Group. A series of operational challenges including significant pit dewatering, wet weather impacts, and poor contractor performance impeded the ability for Bluff to achieve planned steady-state mining volumes. The rapid decline of PCI coal prices from April 2023 coincided with higher costs. Consequently, Bowen Coking Coal made the decision to place the asset into care and maintenance in November 2023. Since final coal sales in March 2024, Bluff’s holding costs have been reduced as far as possible. All mining equipment have been demobilised and transported off site. Environmental monitoring continues in accordance with environmental authority requirements.

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.

Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Processing

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Production

Commodity	Units	2024	2023	2021	2020	2019
Coal (metallurgical)	Mt	....	....	....	....	0.05

Operational metrics

Metrics	2024	2023	2021	2020	2019
Coal tonnes mined	....	....	....	....	244,355 t
Stripping / waste ratio	....	....	....	....
Tonnes processed	....	....	....	....	61,653 t

Personnel

Job Title	Name	Profile	Ref. Date
.......................	.......................		Nov 6, 2024
.......................	.......................		Nov 6, 2024

Total Workforce	Year
......	2021