Name of the Project
Vickery extension project.

Location
Near Gunnedah, in north-west New South Wales, Australia.

Project Owner/s
Whitehaven Coal.

Project Description
Vickery will predominantly be a metallurgical coal mine and will service established and emerging markets for high-quality coal in the near region.

The project has been cleared to extract 13-million tonnes a year of run-of-mine coal over a 25-year mine life, with Whitehaven permitted to transport 11.5-million tonnes of coal from the site by rail in any financial year.

Potential Job Creation
The project is expected to create employment for about 500 people during the construction phase and 450 ongoing operational roles.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
The project is estimated at A$700-million.

Planned Start/End Date
First coal is expected in about mid-2024, with production ramping up in 2025.

Latest Developments
The Whitehaven Coal board has approved the investment to start early mining at the Vickery coal deposit.

The early mining at the deposit will comprise a low-capital project that will use surplus coal processing and washing infrastructure capacity at the Gunnedah coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP), as well as the existing road haulage, rail and port capacity.

Construction for early-start mining is expected to start in June 2023.

Whitehaven has said that an estimated A$150-million will be invested to overhaul mining equipment, establish water management infrastructure, build modest site facilities and establish a boxcut.

A decision around further investment and the start of full-scale operations at Vickery will be considered by the board later in 2023, Whitehaven has said.

As operations at Werris Creek wind down in 2024, equipment and staff will become available to transfer to Vickery.

Following ramp-up, run-of-mine production is expected to reach between 1.2-million and 1.3-million tonnes a year.

Whitehaven has told shareholders that the company is continuing to refine capital and mine plans for Vickery to be shovel ready in 2024. 

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Whitehaven Coal, tel +61 2 6743 4215.