Name of the Project
New Acland Stage 3 coal mine expansion project.

Location
Queensland, Australia.

Project Owner/s
New Acland Coal (NAC), a subsidiary of the New Hope Group.

Project Description
NAC operates the existing New Acland coal mine as a 4.8-million-tonne-a-year opencut coal mine on mining lease (ML) 50170 and ML 50216. The mine has reserves that will allow for current operations to continue until about 2017.

The project will expand the mine’s yearly output from 4.8-million tonnes to 7.5-million tonnes and will extend the operation’s life beyond the current end-date of 2017/18.

The revised coal project proposes to develop Stage 3 of the New Acland mine, which involves the extension of the mine’s operating life to about 2029, including the progressive development of two new resource areas within the area covered by Mining Development Licence 244, also covered by ML application 50232.

The two resource areas will be developed sequentially and, combined with the current operations, will supply up to 7.5-million tonnes a year of saleable product coal for the export and domestic markets until about 2029.

Key features of the project include:

• developing parts of the Manning Vale and Willeroo resource areas;
• upgrading the existing coal handling and preparation plant and supporting infrastructure;
• constructing a new coal load-out facility on the mining lease and an estimated 8 km rail spur, as a result of the relocation of the existing Jondaryan coal load-out facility;
• roadworks and constructing water management structures; and
• relocating and potentially upgrading the power supply to the revised project.

The Acland town area, including Tom Doherty Park, the War Memorial and the Acland No 2 colliery and utility services, will be maintained over the life of the revised project.

The closest point of potential mining operations will be at least 10 km away from Oakey, compared with the 7 km previously proposed.

The land disturbed for mining activities will be reduced by more than half, compared with the original Stage 3 proposal.

Veneering to coat all transported coal leaving the mine by train­ – to reduce the potential for coal dust coming from trains – will continue.

Lagoon Creek will not be diverted as previously proposed. Operations will continue to be self-sufficient for water, with water continuing to be bought from Toowoomba’s Wetalla wastewater reclamation facility. NAC buys only about 20% of the Wetalla water.

Production levels from the New Acland mine will be reduced by at least 25%, to 7.5-million tonnes a year, from the originally proposed ten-million tonnes a year.

Potential Job Creation
Once approved, the New Acland Stage 3 project will create 187 new jobs within the first six months and 487 jobs within 18 months.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
A$900-million.

Planned Start/End Date
About 2.5 years will be required to complete the design and build the mine, as well as other activities to facilitate the revised project.

Latest Developments
The New Acland Stage 3 has moved a step forward with the Queensland government’s granting of environmental approval.

The coal miner has been battling to gain approval for the Stage 3 development of its New Acland mine and was earlier backed by the Queensland Land Court, which recommended that the mining leases and environmental authority applications for the project be granted.

New Hope has said that it continues to work with representatives from various government departments to obtain mining leases and the associated water licence.

The Queensland Resources Council has put pressure on the government to finalise approvals for New Acland Stage 3 amid a spike in coal prices, owing to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. The organisation previously argued that delays in finalising approvals were costing jobs, hurting the Darling Downs economy and undercutting Australia’s capacity to supply global markets at a time when its commodities were needed most.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
New Acland Coal, tel +61 7 3418 0500, fax +61 7 3418 0355 or email aclandinfo@newhopegroup.com.au.