Australia’s Coal & Allied Plans Production Boost
Rio Tinto subsidiary Coal & Allied plans to
increase output from its NSW mines by up to 70% in the next four years as the clogged
Hunter Valley coal chain, which includes
Newcastle port, improves. According to The
Australian, the company plans to boost production
from about 20 million metric tons
(mt) a year to between 40 million mt and
43 million mt in 2014. About $5 billion of
new port and rail infrastructure is planned
in and around Newcastle over the next four
years under a long term framework deal
struck last year. The biggest potential addition
to production for Coal & Allied is at its
Mount Pleasant prospect, where the company
is dusting off a 2007-08 feasibility
study and updating it. Mount Pleasant,
which is yet to be approved by the board,
had the potential to produce 9 million mt of
saleable coal a year. The aim was to start
the mine in 2013 and be at full capacity by
2014. As the constraints on the coal system
ease, about 2 million mt a year of extra
coal should be able to be produced at each
of the company’s three main operations.
Coal & Allied also plans to expand its
Bengalla mine.
As featured in Womp 2010 Vol 04 - www.womp-int.com