PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The federal government has backed the development of the Isaac River coal mine, in Queensland, ASX-listed Bowen Coking Coal reported on Friday.
The company told shareholders that it had received a letter from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water proposing to approve the construction and operation of the new mine, with Bowen accepting in full the proposed environmental conditions attached.
“As the Bowen basin’s newest independent coal producer, we’re here to meet the growing demand for energy and steelmaking coal. We are confident that world steel and energy demand will continue its rapid growth, driven by on-going industrialization in the developing world, and the drive for decarbonisation in the developed world,” said Bowen executive chairperson Nick Jorss.
Once operational, the Isaac River coal mine will produce high-quality, high-yielding metallurgical coal. Bowen previously completed studies for the project which indicated a production target of between 0.4-million tonnes and 0.6-million tonnes a year over a four to five year period.
“From a standing start a year ago Bowen Coking Coal’s operations now employ over 700 in regional Queensland. Since June last year, the company has mined over 1.3-million tonnes of run-of-mine (RoM) coal from two new mines, and has a third pit underway. With the imminent approval of Isaac River mine, we are in a good position to meet our vision of an annualized RoM production target of five-million RoM tonnes by 2024,” said Jorss.