Stanmore Resources’ Isaac Downs extension project has hit a regulatory milestone, with the environmental impact statement now open for public submissions.

Being advanced to continue the miner’s Isaac Plains Complex operations near Moranbah, the extension would see about 46 million tonnes of run-of-mine (ROM) coal mined over 15 years.

The project would involve the development of an open-cut coal mine producing about 2–4.5Mtpa as an extension of the Isaac Downs mine.

It would leverage existing infrastructure there, including the coal handling and preparation plant, train load-out facilities, and water management infrastructure.

Stanmore expects mining at Isaac Downs to wind down between 2026 and 2028. Construction of the extension project is targeted to kick off in late 2027/early 2028 and ROM coal extraction in 2029, according to EIS documents.

‘The IPC (Isaac Plains Complex) workforce will transition to IDE (Isaac Downs Extension) as mining ramps down at IDM (Isaac Downs Mine) and IPM (Isaac Plains Mine), and ramps up at IDE,” it states.

‘The project, being an extension of mining activities at IPC, is therefore important to ensure a near steady-state workforce across IPC beyond 2027 and 2028.’

The operational workforce for the Isaac Downs extension project is expected to be about 300-400 workers, compared to about 400-450 workers now required at the Isaac Plains Complex.

About 100-150 workers are expected to be engaged in its construction.

Workforce accommodation arrangements will be similar to those of the current IPC workforce.

That includes a mix of residences in Moranbah and other regional towns and mine accommodation villages.

The Isaac Downs extension project was determined to be a controlled action under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

The EIS process will assess potential impacts of the project on the controlling provisions, including threatened species, as an accredited assessment process under section 87(4) of the EPBC Act.

The EIS can be viewed online at https://stanmore.au/assets/projects/ide/