Exports out of Coal mines QLD are among the country’s largest. Producers rely on a strong supply chain to support mining production, processing and logistics to deliver thermal and metallurgical coal to international markets for power generation and steel making applications.
To help keep the sector moving, iQ Industry Queensland joins with professionals and supply chain partners to offer the latest news, updates and information on coal mines QLD wide. This to help readers stay at the cutting edge of coal mining QLD, and ensure business is positioned to take advantage of a changing industry.
Queensland is home to vast coalfields. Government estimates put the inventory at around 34 billion tonnes.
Metallurgical coal, including coking coal and PCI or pulverised coal injection product, makes up around a quarter of combined reserves and resources, half of which is considered accessible by open cut mining.
Most mining and most reserves are presented in the Bowen Basin. Other mining takes place in the Clarence-Moreton and Surat Basins in the south east.
The Galilee Basin, generally located west of the Bowen Basin, is an emerging coal mining province.
It currently hosts one site, Adani’s Carmichael mine.
There are more than 50 coal mines in Queensland, mostly owned by multinational corporations.
There has been a trend away from coal mining ownership in line with carbon-neutral public sentiment and smaller companies are increasingly picking up operating sites.
There is also an incidence of ‘mine-mouth’ operations in Queensland where mines are located next to the power stations they feed. These include Tarong and Callide.
The first recorded instance of coal mining in Queensland was in the 1840s. Mining grew significantly in the late 19th century and operations around Ipswich in the state’s south-east became major producers.
The discovery of large coal deposits in the Bowen Basin led to the establishment of several coal mines.
By the early 20th century, the state had become a major producer of coal, with exports primarily destined for the United Kingdom.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the industry faced several challenges, including competition from cheaper imported coal, the introduction of new technologies that reduced the demand for coal, and increasing concerns about the environmental impact of coal mining.
In recent years, the industry has faced growing pressure from environmental groups, who are concerned about the impacts of coal mining on the environment, particularly the release of greenhouse gases.
The Queensland Government has responded by introducing a range of policies aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the industry, including the use of clean coal technologies and the development of renewable energy sources.
The coal mining industry remains a major contributor to the state’s economy, and is likely to continue to play an important role in Queensland’s future.
In Queensland, coal mining is primarily carried out using two methods: open-cut mining and underground mining.
Open-cut mining is the more common method and involves removing the surface layers of soil and rock to expose the coal seams. Once the coal is exposed, it is extracted using large equipment, such as draglines and trucks.
The removed material, known as overburden, is typically placed back in the mined area to help restore the land to its pre-mining state.
Underground mining involves the excavation of tunnels and shafts to access the coal seams.
This method is typically used when the coal seams are located at deeper levels, and the overburden is too thick to be removed using open-cut methods. In underground mining, the coal is extracted using equipment such as continuous miners and conveyor belts.
In both methods, the extracted coal is then transported to a processing plant, where it is crushed, screened and washed to remove impurities.
Coal mines in Queensland fall primarily into two categories: thermal and coking coal.
Thermal coal, also known as steaming coal, is used to generate electricity. It has a lower carbon content and higher moisture content compared to coking coal, and burns at a lower temperature.
Thermal coal is mainly exported to countries in Asia.
Coking coal, also known as metallurgical coal, is used in the production of steel. It has a higher carbon content and lower moisture content compared to thermal coal, and is required to undergo a process to produce ‘coke’, which is used in steel production.
Coking coal is mainly exported to countries in Asia and Europe.
The Bowen Basin contains significant reserves of both thermal and coking coal, making it an important contributor to the state’s economy and to the global coal market.
There is a third type of coal making up the inventory in Queensland. That’s PCI coal, or pulverized coal injection coal, which is a type of coal that is finely ground and used as a fuel in steel production.
PCI coal is typically a type of coking coal, which is known for its high carbon content and low ash and sulphur content.
Queensland mostly produces coking coal and most production comes out of the northern Bowen Basin which accounts for a seven-year average of about 83 million tonnes a year.
The rural centre of the northern Bowen Basin is Moranbah. The regional centre is Mackay. This region produces also more than 15.8mt/year thermal coal.
The southern Bowen Basin has Emerald as its largest dormitory centre and produces more thermal coal than the north, around 42mt/year. It still produces around 5.4mt/year of coking coal. Coal from this area is exported through the Port of Gladstone.
More than 37.2mt/year coking coal is produced in the Central Bowen Basin which also accounted for 24.79mt/year thermal coal production.
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