Overview -
Mt Arthur coal operations are located less than five km from the town of Muswellbrook in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia.
In 1791, an escaped convict discovered coal near Newcastle; his loyal wife Mary is credited to be the first woman to use Australian coal for cooking purposes. In 1799, a coal shipment to Bengal, India was registered as the first Australian export of any kind - it was produced by convict labor.
Coal mining at Mt. Arthur Coal leases began in 1968 and continued through 2002 when BHP Billiton's Mt Arthur North coal mine came into production. The operation consists of two separate open cuts (Bayswater No 3 and Mt Arthur North).
Two new projects are being planned to be added to the existing operations - the Mt. Arthur North South Pit extension, which will extend into the neighboring Bayswater No 3 mining license and, the Mt. Arthur Underground project. Together they could supplement the actual 13.5 Mt per year production with another 9 -10 million tones per year.
The mine is one of the largest individual coal operations in the Hunter Valley. It is a typical coal surface operation involving trucks, shovels, excavators, dozers, graders, drills and water carts. The large mining equipment used in the operation is considered to be amongst the quietest in the world.
Mt Arthur produces thermal coal for domestic and export markets for power generation purposes. Domestic coal is subjected to crushing only, while the one that is destined for export is sent to the preparation plant prior of being shipped by rail to the port of Newcastle.
The mine operates on a 24 hours/7 days a week schedule, and during 2007 had 614 permanent employees.
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