The Saraji East Project is a proposed underground coal development located about 30km north of Dysart in Central Queensland’s Bowen Basin.

The project is being advanced by BMA, a joint venture between BHP and Mitsubishi Development, and includes extraction of up to 11Mt per year of run-of-mine coal.

Saraji East has been designed as a greenfield single-seam underground mine that would operate adjacent to the existing Saraji open-cut coal mine. The development is expected to produce up to around 8 million tonnes of metallurgical (coking) coal per year, primarily used in global steelmaking.

The proposed operation could run for about 20 years, with coal extracted using underground mining methods and processed through existing Saraji infrastructure.

Key project infrastructure would include underground access, ventilation systems, coal handling facilities and connections to the regional rail network.

Processed coal would be transported via the Goonyella rail system to export terminals on the Queensland coast, supplying international steelmaking markets.

Although the project has progressed through environmental assessment and received conditional approvals, investment decisions have been delayed amid market conditions and policy uncertainty in the Queensland coal sector.