Name and Location
New Acland coal mine Stage 3 expansion, Queensland, Australia.

Client
New Acland Coal, a wholly owned subsidiary of the New Hope Corporation.

Project Description
The project proposes to extend operations of the existing New Acland coal mine to 2029, with the inclusion and progressive development of two new resource areas – Manning Vale and Willeroo – within the MDL 244 area, now also covered by the mining lease application (MLA) 50232.

The project will include:
• the expansion of the existing mining activities into parts of the Manning Vale and Willeroo resource areas within MLA 50232, located to the south and west of the current 50170 and 50216 mining leases (ML);
• a production increase of up to 7.5-million tonnes a year of product coal, equivalent to about 14-million-tonnes-a-year of run-of-mine (RoM) coal;
• production of up to 80.4-million tonnes a year of product coal over the life of the project;
• the progressive disposal of coarse rejects to cells within the overburden dumps, along with fine tailings being disposed of in in-pit tailings storage facilities;
• the emplacement of two out-of-pit spoil dumps associated with the Manning Vale and Willeroo mine pits;
• the generation of three depressed landforms at the end of mining by backfilling and reprofiling final mine pits;
• the construction of a materials handling facility on ML 50216;
• the upgrade of the existing coal handling preparation plant complex, RoM and product coal stockpile areas and supporting infrastructure on ML 50170;
• the implementation of the current mine surface-water management system, involving various water management structures staged to accommodate the progressive development of the mine and based on the principles of diverting clean water and capturing and reusing mine-affected water from disturbed areas;
• upgrades to the existing administration and heavy-vehicle maintenance area on ML 50170;
• the relocation and potential upgrade of the current power supply for the mine operation and the local 11 kV distribution system;
• the diversion of the Jondaryan-Muldu road around the Manning Vale resource area;
• the decommissioning of the Jondaryan rail load-out facility;
• the construction of a new 8 km rail spur line and balloon loop from Jondaryan onto MLA 50232;
• construction of the train load-out facility within MLA 50232; and
• the progressive and continuous rehabilitation of mined areas to be used for grazing.

The New Hope Group will preserve the original Acland underground mine pit head and buildings, as part of the Acland Colliery Conservation Management Plan for the revised New Acland coal mine Stage 3 project.

Value
Not stated.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The environmental-impact statement for the Stage 3 project was released for public comment in January 2014 until March 3.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
New Hope Corporation media and communications, tel +61 7 3418 0558 or email media@newhopegroup.com.au.