The Winchester South project is a proposed large-scale open-cut coal development in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, located about 30km south-east of Moranbah within the Isaac Regional Council area.

The project is being developed by a subsidiary of Whitehaven Coal after the company acquired the asset from Rio Tinto in 2018.

Winchester South is designed primarily to produce metallurgical coal used in steelmaking, with a smaller proportion of thermal coal for energy generation.

The mine is expected to produce up to 17Mt of run-of-mine coal per year, yielding roughly 11Mt of saleable product for export to international markets, particularly in Asia.

The project represents an investment of around $1 billion and could operate for nearly three decades, supporting about 500 construction jobs and around 450 ongoing operational roles once in production.

Infrastructure planned for the development includes a coal handling and preparation plant, rail loop, and connections to the existing Bowen Basin rail network for export through Queensland coal ports.

If developed, Winchester South would become one of the larger new coal projects in the Bowen Basin.