Mount Thorley Warkworth

Mount Thorley Warkworth (MTW) is an integrated operation of two open cut mines located adjacent to each other, 15 km south west of Singleton in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales.

The operation supplies international and domestic markets with up to 10 million tonnes of semi-soft coking coal and thermal coal per annum.

Mount Thorley has been in operation since 1981, and after a business restructuring of mining company R.W. Miller, Coal & Allied became managers of the mine in 1989. Warkworth Mining began operations in the same year as Mount Thorley, 1981, and in 2001 Coal & Allied purchased an interest in the mine.

In May 2003 an extension was approved for the Warkworth mine to extend mining until 2020 with a maximum annual capacity of 18 million tonnes of run-of-mine coal. The extension included a Green Offsets Strategy that reserved over 1500 hectares of land next to the extension area to protect and enhance native vegetation. In January 2004, the two mines were integrated to improve efficiency and operate as one business.

In February 2012 Coal & Allied was granted approval by the Planning Assessment Commission to extend mining within its existing Warkworth lease, which has extended the operation of the mine by 21 years to 2033.

Coal & Allied manages Mount Thorley Warkworth on behalf of the joint venture partners:

Mount Thorley: Coal & Allied Industries Limited (80 per cent) and POSCO Australia Pty Ltd (20 per cent). Warkworth: CNA Warkworth Australasia Pty Limited (26.82 per cent), CNA Resources Limited (28.75 per cent), Mitsubishi Development Pty. Limited (28.9 per cent), Nippon Steel Australia Pty Limited (9.53 per cent) and Mitsubishi Materials (Australia) Pty Limited (6 per cent).

Rio Tinto Coal Australia is 100 per cent owned by the Rio Tinto Group. Coal & Allied is 80 per cent owned by the Rio Tinto Group and 20 per cent owned by Mitsubishi Development.

Location

Mount Thorley Warkworth (MTW) is an integrated operation of two open cut mines located adjacent to each other 15 km south west of Singleton in the Hunter Valley region.

Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately 120 km (75 mi) to 310 km (193 mi) north of Sydney with an approximate population of over 645,000 people. The most important economic activity in the valley is coal mining.

The valley is also a major tourist destination in New South Wales and is the 6th most visited place in Australia attracting more than 2.5 million people annually.

Geology & Mineralization 

Operations are centred in the Wittingham Coal Measures of the Hunter Coalfield, which is part of a Permian coal basin known as the Sydney basin.

The Hunter coalfield is the largest coal-producing region in NSW, currently concentrated around the Singleton and Muswellbrook districts.

It produces the bulk of thermal coal for NSW’s electricity generation needs as well as for export markets.  The Hunter coal seams are mostly at shallow depths of less than 300 metres, enabling cost effective multi-seam, open cut mining operations.

Mount Thorley had marketable reserves of 23 million tonnes as at 31 December 2011. Warkworth had marketable reserves of 253 million tonnes as at 31 December 2011.

Mining & Operation

Mount Thorley Warkworth is an open cut mine, using a dragline truck and shovel method. 1048 employees (as at 31 December 2011) work in shifts to keep the mine operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In May 2003 an extension was approved for the Warkworth mine to extend mining until 2020 with a maximum annual capacity of 18 million tonnes of run-of-mine coal. In February 2012, Coal & Allied was granted approval by the Planning Assessment Commission to extend mining within its existing Warkworth lease, which has extended the operation of the mine by 21 years to 2033.

In 2011, Mount Thorley produced more than 1.3 million tonnes of thermal coal and 1.9 million tonnes of semi-soft coking coal. Warkworth produced more than 5.4 million tonnes of thermal coal and more than 590,000 tonnes of semi-soft coking coal.

Processing

After being washed and prepared for sale, the coal is loaded onto trains for transportation 90km to the Port Waratah Coal Terminal in Newcastle where it is shipped to international customers.

Environment & Community

Mount Thorley Warkworth seeks to be more than just a major source of local employment and economic growth, rather to work in partnership with the local community. Through its community relations programme, Coal & Allied is working to help provide positive long term outcomes for the Hunter Valley region.

The Mount Thorley Warkworth Community Consultative Committee meets regularly to provide a forum for open discussion between the community, the council and Coal & Allied representatives. The committee discusses issues directly relating to the mining operation and environmental performance, keeping the community informed on these matters and potential impacts.

Recent examples of our consultation and involvement in the community include: