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Australia

Maxwell Mine

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Australia

Maxwell Mine

Location: 8 km SE from Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia

Address:

952 Thomas Mitchell Drive
Muswellbrook
New South Wales, Australia
2333

Contacts:

Additional Resources for Suppliers & Investors

Categories

Summary

Mine TypeUnderground
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Coal (metallurgical)
  • Coal (thermal)
Mining Method
  • Bord-and-pillar
  • Longwall
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SnapshotThe Maxwell UG Mine is an underground mining operation that will produce high-quality coals with at least 75% of coal produced capable of being used in the making of steel. The balance is exportable thermal coals suitable for the new-generation high efficiency power generators.

The previous owners did not secure the necessary development approval to establish the Maxwell resource as an open-cut mine. In 2018, Malabar identified the potential for underground mining. The development of the Maxwell Mine was designed to proceed in two distinct phases. This phased approach aimed to enable early coal sales from the Bord & Pillar (B&P) operation while constructing the 145m longwall mine, with the option to expand to a 300m longwall operation in the future.

Construction of the project commenced in May 2022, and first coal was washed and sold in June 2023. In November 2023, the Malabar Board has committed to develop the operation as a 300m longwall to realise Maxwell’s full potential.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
New Hope Group Co., Ltd. 22.97 % Indirect
Maxwell Ventures (Management) Pty Ltd. (operator) 100 % Direct
On 27 July 2022, New Hope , through a wholly-owned subsidiary, acquired a 15.0 per cent interest in Malabar Resources Limited (Malabar). Malabar is an unlisted public company whose flagship asset is the Maxwell Mine, an underground metallurgical coal project located 10kms southwest of Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley.

In February 2024, the Group acquired an additional 4.95 per cent stake in Malabar through participation in an equity raising. An additional 0.02 per cent stake was purchased from other shareholders subsequent to the equity raising, with an ending interest in Malabar of 19.97 per cent as at 31 July 2024.

On March 18, 2025, New Hope announced an increase in its equity interest in Malabar Resources to 22.97%.

Contractors

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SourceSource

Deposit type

  • Sedimentary

Summary:

The Project is located in the Hunter Coalfield in the northern part of the Permo-Triassic Sydney Basin, which forms the southern portion of the Sydney-Gunnedah-Bowen Basin (DMR, 1988).

The Wittingham Coal Measures occur widely within the Hunter Coalfield and contain many recoverable seams. The Project targets mining of the Whynot, Woodlands Hill, Arrowfield and Bowfield Seams.

The target seams are within the Jerrys Plains Subgroup, forming part of the upper and middle units of the Wittingham Coal Measures.

Above the target seams, the stratigraphy of the area consists of a sequence of sandstone, siltstone and laminate units within the Wittingham Coal Measures.

Geological Features
The target underground mining area sits on the western side of the Muswellbrook Anticline, which is a prominent regional geological feature. The strata in the area (including the coal seams) dip gently, with gradients varying between 3% and 5%.

Geological features identified in the target underground mining area and surrounds include:
• a north-northwest-orientated regional graben structure to the west of the Maxwell Underground;
• a north-east-trending fault located to the south-east of the Maxwell Underground with a throw of approximately 10 m;
• smaller faults within the mining area with throws of between approximately 2 m to 6 m;
• igneous dykes;
• dolerite sills intruded into the Whynot, Arrowfield and Bowfield Seams; and
• the Edderton Sill intruded into the interburden between the Whynot and Blakefield Seams, with a thickness of approximately 20 m.

The regional graben structure to the west of the Maxwell Underground comprises the East Graben Fault and the Randwick Park Fault.

The East Graben Fault is sub-vertical and has a downthrow of up to 20 m to the west into the graben which forms with the sub-parallel Randwick Park Fault, which has a throw of up to 50 m to the east.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

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Commodity Production

CommodityUnits20242023
Coal (metallurgical & thermal) Mt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
All production numbers are expressed as clean coal. ^ Guidance / Forecast.

Operational metrics

Metrics202420232022
Coal tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Waste  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Reject  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
^ Guidance / Forecast.

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Personnel

Mine Management

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Workforce

Aerial view:

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