Goonyella Riverside Mine is a large

open cut Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

coking Coking is the heating of coal in the absence of oxygen to a temperature above 600 °C to drive off the volatile components of the raw coal, leaving a hard, strong, porous material of high carbon content called coke. Coke consists almost ent ...

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

in the

Bowen Basin The Bowen Basin contains the largest coal reserves in Australia. This major coal-producing region contains one of the world's largest deposits of bituminous coal. The Basin contains much of the known Permian coal resources in Queensland includ ...

. It is one of many coal mines in

Central Queensland Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Capricorn Coas ...

, Australia and is located at

Moranbah Moranbah is a coal mining town and locality in the Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Moranbah had a population of 8,735 people. In addition to the permanent population, Moranbah also has a large fly-in fly-out popula ...

about 30 km north of the township. The mine produced 12.4 million tonnes of

metallurgical coal Metallurgical coal or coking coal is a grade of coal that can be used to produce good-quality coke. Coke is an essential fuel and reactant in the blast furnace process for primary steelmaking. The demand for metallurgical coal is highly coupled ...

from July 2012 to June 2013. It is owned by

BHP Mitsubishi Alliance The BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) is an Australian coal mining company operating in Central Queensland. The largest coal producer in Australia, it is a joint venture with BHP and Mitsubishi each owning 50%. It was established in 2001. The BMA ...

. The Goonyella Upper Seam, the Goonyella Middle Seam and the Goonyella Lower Seam are all mined at the site. The coal is well known for its great coking characteristics. Much of the coal was such a high grade, the wash plants were often programmed to add ash to meet the contracted export quality targets.

History

The Goonyella Mine was developed by Central Queensland Coal Associates, ( Utah International Corporation 85% and Mitsubishi Development Co 15%) before being sold to BHP. Operations commenced in 1971 at Goonyella while mining began at Riverside in 1982. On 12 November 2019, BMA Operations announced that it would

automate Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

86 Komatsu Trucks by 2020. The announcement was openly criticised by the CFMEU Mining & Energy Division and the Queensland Opposition Leader

Deb Frecklington Deborah Kay Frecklington (born 3 September 1971) is an Australian politician who is the member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Nanango, having won the seat at the 2012 state election. She was the Leader of the Queensland Opposit ...

who stated that approvals to the mine operation should be reviewed. The mine is colour coded to "Goonyella Green", and the haul trucks were given names of racehorses. Coal is exported by the

Goonyella railway line The Goonyella railway system is located in Central Queensland, Australia. It services the coal mining area of the Bowen Basin, carrying coal to the Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminals 20 km southeast of Mackay, as well as products t ...

via

Hay Point Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated ...

to markets worldwide.

Safety at Goonyella Riverside mine

The mine has recorded four fatal accidents since 1990

References

1971 establishments in Australia BHP Coal mines in Queensland Mines in Central Queensland Mitsubishi Open-pit mines Surface mines in Australia {{CentralQueensland-geo-stub

History

Safety at Goonyella Riverside mine

See also

References