PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Coal miner Stanmore Coal on Wednesday announced that it would defer the development of its Isaac Plains underground project, in Queensland.
The miner told shareholders that while a bankable feasibility study on the underground operation had confirmed a positive business case for a 1.2-million-tonne-a-year operation, the quantum of product tonnes forecast from the underground operation, combined with the opencut sources exceeded the current coal handling and processing plant (CHPP) and contracted port capacity.
“Stanmore is prioritizing its highest margin run-of-mine coal at Isaac Plains East and Isaac Downs project, to maximise returns to shareholders,” the company said in a statement, adding that the underground operation would be deferred until additional port and CHPP capacity was secured, or until mining at the Isaac Downs project had been largely completed.
Meanwhile, Stanmore will invest A$13-million on a 600 t excavator for the Isaac Plains East mine.
The ASX-listed miner told shareholders that the excavator would be used to increase overburden removal productivity rates while also reducing the average unit overburden costs.
The excavator will maintain the run-of-mine coal volumes at Isaac Plains East in the short-term, and will allow for an accelerated ramp-up of production at the Isaac Downs project, once approvals have been granted.
Stanmore has struck an agreement with its mining services contractor Golding to supply the trucking fleet required to support the new excavator. The mining services agreement has also been amended to include operation and maintenance of the excavator.
Stanmore said that the additional fleet would enable the company to operate the existing site infrastructure at capacity, which was matched to the port contracts.