The Moranbah North Coal Mine is a

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

mine 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 ...

at Moranbah 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. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 261 million tonnes of

coking 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 ...

, one of the largest coal reserves in the world. The mine has an annual production capacity of 8 million tonnes of coal. Most of the coal is exported and used to produce iron and steel in Asia but also to India, Brazil and Europe via 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 ...

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 ...

. The longwall mining operations at the mine began in 1998. Extraction occurs roughly 200 metres below the surface. Operations are expected to continue until around 2033. The mine is owned by Anglo American Australia and several joint partners.

Methane gas Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Ear ...

extracted from the mine powers the Moranbah North Power Station.

History

In April 2007 underground miner Jason Blee was killed after being pinned to a side wall by a shuttle car. The mine successfully trialed an innovative

shotcrete Shotcrete, gunite (), or sprayed concrete is concrete or mortar conveyed through a hose and pneumatically projected at high velocity onto a surface, as a construction technique, first used in 1907 invented by Carl Akeley. It is typically ...

concrete chemical mixture in 2012. In 2013, Moranbah North Coal Mine received the Coal Mine of the Year Award at the 10th annual Australian Mining Prospect Awards. In February 2019, an underground miner, Bradley Hardwick was killed and other miners were injured when the grader he was operating rolled down the mine drift. In March 2022, a miner was killed after being struck in the head by machinery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moranbah North Coal Mine Coal mines in Queensland Mines in Central Queensland 1998 establishments in Australia Underground mines in Australia

History

See also

References