EIS 449

AB019117

Hunter Valley No. 1 Mine

1NUSTR1ES

~j A

Coal & Allied Operations Pty. Limited

HUNTER VALLEY No.1 MINE

BLASTED OVERBURDEN REMOVAL

RIPPING & LOADING COAL

.ower Mt. Arthj

~~u PerfieI - Lower Piercef,eld

'JVt VdUA- Middle Vaux—

Dyke —Lower Vaux -

BLASTED INTERBURDEN REMOVAL

RIPPING & LOADING INTERBURDEN

field

Upper Vaux - MiddIe Vatj

çi Lower Vaux— -

I N D E X

Page No

COAL & ALLIED - INTEGRATED OPERATIONS 2

MARKETING HUNTER VM.T.RY COALS 3

HUMAN RESOURCES 5

ENVIRONMENTAL 1IANAGFMENT 6

COAL RESOURCES - HUNTER VAT.TY NO 1 MINE 7

COAL RESERVES - HUNTER VATJRY NO 2 MINE 9

MINE DEVELOPMENT 10

MINING OPERATIONS 11

OVERBURDEN REMOVAL 12

COAL LOADING AND HAULAGE 14

MINE PLANNING 15

QUALITY CONTROL 16

HUNTER VM,T,FY COAL PREPARATION PLANT 18

Run-of-Mine Coal Handling 18

Coal Preparation Plant 18

Clean Coal Handling 19

HUNTER VATT.1Y LOADING POINT 21

LIDDELL COAL PREPARATION PLANT 22

QUALITY CONTROL AND LABORATORY SERVICES 23

Hunter Valley No 1 Open Cut Mine is located some 16km west of

Singleton to the north of the Hunter River, and 107 kms north

west of Newcastle, New South Wales.

The mine operates at an output level of 5.5 to 5.8 million

run-of-mine tonnes per annum. Its product Hunter Valley Brand

Coal is firmly established and enjoys widespread acceptance

in the world market place. The Mount Arthur, Piercefield and

Vaux Seams provide run-of-mine coal suitable for washing to

the low ash Hunter Valley Brand Coking and Steaming

Specifications. These seams are continuous and extend from

Hunter Valley No 1 Mine, to the southern extension area to

Hunter Valley No 1 Mine and to Hunter Valley No 2 Mine.

Coal & Allied has the coal reserves, mining operations and

related infrastructure to continue to supply Hunter Valley

Brand Coals well into the next century.

Production from Hunter Valley No 1 Mine is processed at Hunter

Valley Coal Preparation Plant. Both coking and steaming coal

products are produced by this large and modern coal

preparation complex which employs the highest quality control

standards.

Hunter Valley brand coal is a low ash, low sulphur, low

phosphorus, high volatile coal comparable in overall quality

with the best high volatile coals exported from Australia.

Coal & Allied emphasises quality control as an essential

element in winning and maintaining an increased share of the

world market. The Company is confident of its ability to meet

the optimum coal specifications required for modern power

stations, cement works and steel plants.

COAL & ALLIED - INTEGRATED OPERATIONS

Coal & Allied's Hunter Valley operational plan provides for

three major mines, two preparation plants and two rail

loading facilities operating as an integrated coal extraction,

preparation and handling complex servicing export markets for

coking and steaming coal types. This integrated operation

maximises the efficient use of coal preparation, handling,

storage and shipment facilities.

Hunter Valley No 1 Mine and the proposed Hunter Valley No 2

Mine are separated by the Hunter River. (See Figure 1).

Hunter Valley Coal Preparation Plant is located adjacent to

Hunter Valley No 1 Mine and is connected by a coal haulage

road and overland conveyor to coal preparation and rail

loading facilities adjacent to Liddell Colliery.

Liddell Coal Preparation Plant provides washing capacity and

coal stockpiling and unit train facilities for production from

underground longwall' operations at Liddell Colliery and a

proportion of the production from Hunter Valley No 1 Mine.

Hunter Valley Loading Point incorporates two large stockpiles

and unit train loading facilities.

It is proposed to continue current mining operations at Hunter

Valley No 1 Mine into the southern extension area using

existing equipment, workforce and mine infrastructure.

It is the Company's plan to develop Hunter Valley No 2 Mine as

a continuation of Hunter Valley No 1 Mine to maintain the

combined output of Hunter Valley No 1 and No 2 Mines near to

the current Hunter Valley No 1 Mine budget output of 5.8

million run-of-mine tonnes per annnum. This in turn will

utilise established infrastructure and provide continuity of

employment for the mine work force.

2

To MusweiIorooK

LIDDELL POWER —ft------- 0

STATION L11117

LIDDELL COAL \ PREPARATION PLANT

RaIl Loop

LIDDELL COLLIERY

DURHAM NORTH & LIDDELL COLLIERY

HOLDINGS Coal Haul Road

HUNTER VALLEY LOADING POINT

HUNTER VALLEY EXTENDED----COLLIERY HOLDING

-OVERLAND CONVEYOR

Lerni

Ravensworth

Road

HUNTER VALLEY COAL PREPARATION PLANT

-ConstructIon Village

SURFACE FACILITIES- -

HUNTER VALLEY

No.1 MINE

SOUTH ER N EX TEN

SI FHUNTERVALLEYNO.2 1

(PROPOSED MINE SITE) atS0r

N .10

Road

FIGURE 1

COAL & ALLIED'S UPPER HUNTER VALLEY MINING COMPLEX

MARKETING HUNTER VAT.T,RY COALS

Coal & Allied's marketing philosophy is based on the

development of long-term relationships with satisfied

customers throughout the world. A fuel advisory service to

coal purchasers ensures optimum utilisation of the Company's

coal. The success of this marketing philosophy enabled Coal &

Allied to increase sales by 10.9% to a record 9.8 million

tonnes in the 1987 financial year in a highly competitive and

over supplied market. Growth was concentrated in the export

steaming coal and developing semi-soft coking coal markets.

Closely controlled preparation of coal is a key factor in Coal

& Allied's marketing success and Hunter Valley Coal

Preparation Plant is a technological leader in coal

preparation. Coal from Hunter Valley No 1 Mine is blended at

Hunter Valley Loading Point. Parallel stockpiles stack up to

400,000 tonnes and blending is controlled by selectively

drawing coal from each of these stockpiles.

Hunter Valley export coal is moved in unit trains from Hunter

Valley Loading Point and Liddell Balloon Loop to the cargo

assembly yards at Port Waratah and at Kooragang Island (both

in Newcastle Harbour). The Port of Newcastle has a loading

capacity of 43 million tonnes per annum and accommodates

vessels from 10,000 up to 150,000 dwt.

Operations managed by Coal & Allied are an integral part of

the Hunter Valley Coal Chain, the links between mine and

Port.

Management of this chain is planned and controlled by computer

and is the most technologically advanced in the world. The

system permits cargoes to be planned and assembled in the Port

to meet pre-scheduling of ship arrivals.

3

Coal & Allied has unrivalled flexibility in supplying

customers the specifications they require for optimum results

in power stations, cement works and steel plants.

4

Coal & Allied is committed to increasing operational

efficiency by training and education of its workforce.

Staff have access to a wide range of management development

courses and cadetships, sponsorships and apprenticeships

develop the skill base of employees who are experienced and

knowledgeable about mining techniques.

Residential training has been used to develop management

talent capable of dealing with the demands of a complex,

rapidly changing industry and external environment.

In its industrial relations the Company has concentrated on

improving communications with employees and union officials.

Newsletters are published regularly. Company performance is

the subject of regular briefings and financial information is

made available to the workforce. This improved communication

is leading to better productivity and growth of Company

loyalty.

5

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

The Company has a policy of ensuring strict environmental

safeguards during development, mining and rehabilitation of

the Hunter Valley No 1 site. This requires a co-ordinated

approach to mine planning and pollution control systems for

all mining, coal handling and transport operations.

Minimisation of air and water pollution, control of noise

levels and progressive rehabilitation of mined land are

incorporated into the overall plan of the mine.

The Company's mining, engineering and environmental staff

work in close liaison with specialist environmental and

planning consultants to establish design standards for

development of the open cut mine.

Hunter Valley No 1 Mine is regarded by government and

industry as a model for environmental achievement. This was

exemplified when the Company received a commendation on its

environmental standards from the NSW Minister for Planning and

Environment during Earth Week 1980.

Mine rehabilitation commenced from the commencement of

production in 1979 and the initial areas available for pasture

sowing in Autumn 1980. To date about 200 hectares of mined

land have been sown to pasture or timber.

Five years after production began cattle were successfully

introduced to the rehabilitated pasture areas. Results of

pasture trials are being used to establish optimum year-round

grazing. The productivity of the rehabilitated pastures is

superior to that of the land before mining.

The recreated timber areas are in harmony with the rural

environment and the high quality of the rehabilitated land is

testimony to the excellence of environmental management.

COAL RESOURCES - HUNTER VALLEY NO 1 MINE

A detailed exploration programme has provided accurate

estimation of reserves, and permitted detailed mine planning.

Stage 1 core drilling was conducted at 800 metre hole centres.

Stage II core drilling on a 300 metre grid and Stage III non-

cored drilling on a 100 metre grid proved-up reserves.

Geological sections were produced by computer modelling

techniques based on interpretations of the borehole data.

Field geological and geophysical surveys defined igneous

intrusions and faulting to assist in effective mine planning.

The computer calculated coal reserves in Hunter Valley No 1

Mine lease was 56 million tonnes of measured in-situ coal

distributed among the three main seams as follows:

SEAM

IN-SITU MEASURED RESERVES

(million tonnes)

Mount Arthur

Piercefield

Vaux

TOTAL MEASURED RESERVES

REMAINING RESERVES FROM 1988

14.4

25.3

16.3

56.0

31.0

Seam thicknesses is variable and the general dip of the strata

is approximately 1 in 35 to the south-east. The average

overburden to coal ratio for the remaining coal reserve is

2.2:1 (bank cubic metres to in-situ tonnes).

On 17 January 1984 the Company received Authorisation 381 for

an area between the southern boundary of Hunter Valley No 1

Mine and the northern limit of the Hunter River flood plain.

Measured reserves of 23.9 million tonnes of in-situ coal have

been proven in this area and these resources can be mined and

7

beneficiated to meet Hunter Valley Brand Coal Specification.

In-situ coal in Authorisation 381 is distributed between the

three principal seams as follows:-

8

SEAM

Mount Arthur

Piercefield Seam

Vux Seam

TOTAL MEASURED RESERVES

IN-SITU MEASURED RESERVES

(million tonnes)

2.5

13.6

7.8

23.9

Composite ply-by-ply coal quality analysis show that coal from

Hunter Valley No 1 Mine and the Southern Extension area is not

highly variable in quality and, product specifications are

consistent and readily controlled by the coal preparation

processes.

Mining operations at Hunter Valley No 1 Mine will advance

into the Southern Extension Area as shown on Figure 2. The

Southern Extension Area has an overburden to coal ratio in the

order of 4:1 (bank cubic metres to in-situ tonnes).

NORTH

SOUTH

HUNTER VALLEY No.1 MINE

SOUTHERN EXTENSION

Flood Plain

Alluvial Gravels

HUNTER VALLEY No.2 AREA

Blakef Gl.n Munro

HUNTER VALLEY No.1 MINE -4----

Hunter River

Arrowflel

FIGURE 2

GEOLOGICAL CROSS SECTION NOT TO SCALE

COAL RESERVES - HUNTER VALLEY NO 2 MINE

The Hunter Valley No 2 Mine adjoins the floodplain of the

Hunter River to the north, while the eastern and western

boundaries correspond to those of the original Authorisation

13. The area contains 350 million tonne of unoxidised coal.

The average dip of the seams is from the north-east to the

south-west corner of the whole area at about 1 in 20. The

maximum depth to Vaux Seam is 289 metres at the south-western

corner of the area. Net cumulative overburden to coal ratio

at this point is 6:1 (bank cubic metres per in-situ tonne).

Substantial areas within Hunter Valley No 2 Mine deposit have

overburden to coal ratios of between 2:1 and 5:1. The

proposed Redbank Pit utilises a low ratio area in one of the

upper steaming coal seams. The Redbank Pit proposes a very

simple mining operation of high quality steaming coal product

to the Hunter Valley Brand Specification.

Operations in the Main Pit of Hunter Valley No 2 Mine will

mine the same sequence as Hunter Valley No 1 Mine to produce

high quality steaming and coking coals to the Hunter Valley

Brand Specifications (see Figure 3).

J Alluvial Gravels

VALLEY

PREPARATION PLANT

HUNTER No1 MINE

j —CroPPed Lowlands

CROSSING

HUNTER VALLEY No.2 MINE

MAIN PIT

/ RIVER

I I

I

I L.

HUNTER VALLEY COAL I

I

I COAL HAULAGE ROAD

SOUTHERN EXTENSION

.................. .. . ... . ... ...

REDBANK PIT

-. . . . . . .- LCOMPANY OWNED LAND

FIGURE 3

21(m HUNTER VALLEY No1 AND No2 MINES

N I

MINE DEVELOPMENT

Operations commenced at Hunter Valley No 1 Mine in June 1979

with an initial production rate of 1.5 million run-of-mine

tonnes per annum with expansion programmes the mine now

operates at an output level of 5.5 to 5.8 million run-of-mine

tonnes per annum, with a labour force of about 400.

Hunter Valley Coal Preparation Plant is capable of receiving

up to 6 million run-of-mine tonnes per annum from Hunter

Valley No 1 Mine and from initial production at Hunter Valley

No 2 Mine, with clean coal transported by overland conveyor

to the Hunter Valley Loading Point for shipment by rail to the

Port of Newcastle.

In addition Hunter Valley Coal Preparation Plant can stockpile

and recover run-of-mine coal for conveyor-transport to Liddell

Coal Preparation Plant for treatment prior to shipment by rail

through the Liddell Loading Point. The Liddell Loading Point

and the more recent Hunter Valley Loading Point are both on

the Liddell Balloon Loop.

10

MINING OPERATIONS

The gently dipping coal seams and low overburden ratios

permitted a conventional truck and shovel operation. Initial

excavation began with a boxcut along the subcrop of the Vaux

Seam, near the northern boundary of the lease. The early development of the mine advanced down-dip south-west in

successive east-west cuts of approximately 200 metres width,

extracting coal from the Vaux, Piercefield and Mount Arthur

Seams. Figure 4 shows the working sequence of this multi-seam

truck and shovel mining operation.

Geological faults within the existing Hunter Valley No 1 Mine

area has required an adjustment to the alignment of mining

strips, changing them from east-west to north-west/south-east.

This allows the mine to encounter faults at right angles

rather than obliquely, which in turn means that coal can be

recovered with smaller pit losses and less contamination from

interburden.

The mine plan is for multi-seam strip mining with strips of

300 metres width enabling a production capacity of 5.8 million

run-of-mine tonnes.

11

TOPSOIL STRIPPING &

UNCONSOLIDATED DRILLING & VEGETATION CLEARING

OVERBURDEN REMOVAL BLASTING

BLASTED INTERBURDEN REMOVAL BLASTING & LOADING COAL

__ Upper Mt. Arthur TopEd --

- Upper Mt. Arthur Bottom Lower Mt. Artt

U pp ee rc e le Id

Lower Pie,

efieId

& LOADING COAL

1' WcIUA

TMiddle Vaux— —Lower Vaux

BLASTED INTERBURDEN REMOVAL

RIPPING & LOADING INTERBURDEN

Upper Vaux Middle Va

LOwer Vaux— Dyke/ /1

1.2

[61'i1:1UJ1,)4

Trees and shrubs are removed from the area to be mined and

topsoil placed on prepared rehabilitation areas, (or set

aside in special dumps for re-use in rehabilitation).

About seventy per cent of overburden is drilled and blasted

with the remaining unconsolidated material either ripped by

heavy Komatsu D475A and Caterpillar DlO dozers fitted with

single tyne rippers, or loaded by digging directly from the

solid.

Consolidated overburden is drilled in benches, normally with a

maximum height of 15 metres, by Driltech C60K2L rigs.

From 1981 to 1986 three Demag H241 hydraulic shovels, with a

nominal capacity of 18 cubic metres were used to load

overburden into a fleet of ten Wabco 120CM (109 tonne)

mechanical drive trucks. In addition three O&K RH75 hydraulic

shovels, with a nominal capacity of 7.6 cubic metres were

used to load interburden into a fleet of twelve Caterpillar

777 rear dump trucks.

In 1986 the Company introduced new equipment which increased

production to 5.5 million run-of-mine tonnes and which

replaced the O&K RH75 and Demag H241 shovels at the end of

their scheduled life. This followed detailed planning and

operational studies which showed that larger shovels and

trucks were required because of the increased overburden to

coal ratio occurring as the mine develops southwards.

The Company introduced two PH2800 XP electric shovels with

26.7 cubic metre buckets, together with eight Euclid R190 rear

dump trucks. Four Caterpillar 657 Auger Scrapers were

introduced to remove gravels overlying the deposit, to prepare

benches for drilling for thin partings removal, and for road

maintenance.

12

Three Dresser (Hough) 580 front end loaders were added to

work in inedium height overburden faces and thick interburdens.

These units have bucket capacities of 16.8 cubic inetres

(standard lift) and 15.3 cubic inetres (high lift). The high

lift unit has the flexibility to load all trucks on site,

including the Euclid R190s.

The Caterpillar 992C front-end loaders took over partings

removal previously undertaken by the O&K RH75 shovels, giving

less coal seam deterioration and better control of run-of-mine

quality.

A Driltech DK40 multipass drill unit is used to drill coal

and partings.

13

COAL LOADING AND HAULAGE

The first step in the coaling operation is cleaning off minor

amounts of partings and waste material left behind by the

loaders or shovels. Waste material is pushed into heaps by

rubber-tyred dozers, loaded into overburden trucks by front-

end loaders or removed by scrapers and hauled to the waste

dumps.

Seams of 2 metres or less usually are ripped by Cat DlO's or

D475A Komatsu dozers. Seams greater than 2 metres usually are

drilled and blasted.

Coal loading is carried out by two Caterpillar 992C front-

end loaders fitted with 14 cubic metre capacity buckets.

Coal is loaded into a fleet of six Caterpillar 776 bottom

dump coal haulers of 109 tonne capacity. These trucks haul

the coal to two receival hoppers feeding the Hunter Valley

Coal Preparation Plant.

14

MINE PLANNING

Mine planning makes use of computer programmes. The

principal software packages are "MINER 2" and "XPAC 511 .

MINER 2 is used to calculate mining reserves. A geological

model is constructed using data from the 300 metre centre

diamond drill holes, the 100 metre centre depth of weathering

holes and the additional sub-crop boreholes. Sub-routines

within the prograitime allow cress sections of the deposit to be

drawn, together with coal and overburden isopach structure

plans, and define coal thicknesses and qualities.

Strip layouts are digitised and the geological model is used

to calculate quantities of overburden, interburden and

partings, and tonnages of coal in each mining block. These

figures after allowing for mining recoveries form the basis

of the mine production schedules.

The XPAC 5 package is used to develop mine production

schedules from weekly control to monthly, three monthly and

yearly planning schedules. The programme takes into account

varying production rates of different loading equipment

digging in various types of material. Coal inventories are

monitored and schedules developed for overburden and coal

removal. Other features allow the computation of truck and

drill hours required to move the scheduled quantities of

material.

15

QUALITY CONTROL

Initial quality estimates were based on information obtained

from the original diamond drill holes at 300 metre centres

over the total deposit.

A programme of drilling in-fill holes on a 100 metre centre

square grid down to the first unweathered coal seam, provided

more accurate assessment of coal and waste quantities, and

accurately identified regional variations of in-situ coal

quality within the lease area. Prior to 1984, this quality

data was enhanced by close-spaced strip and channel samples.

This procedure has been replaced by a programme of pre-

development drilling which includes:-

drilling of HQ and 150mm diameter borecores on an offset

pattern to the original 300m exploration pattern.

delineation of crossplies by strip sampling.

using geophysical techniques in structurally complex

areas.

The programme of pre-development drilling provides detailed

mine and quality planning for up to 600 metres ahead of the

current mining area.

Estimates of ash, specific energy, moisture, etc., have been

computed using interpolation methods from the exploration

drill hole grids. These are used to predict quality and

trends within the mine and thereby permit scheduling of

operations to eliminate the effect of localised quality

variations.

Records are kept of the coal mined, with particular reference

to as-mined ash figures for each seam, and location of the

coal mined. Comparisons are made of the actual as-mined ash

percentage against predicted ash from the diamond drill hole

and seam sample information.

iE

The Mine Planning Department liaises closely with coal

production supervisors. Frequent inspections and spot

sampling of the coal assures that clean mining is achieved.

Close liaison with the coal preparation plant co-ordinates

overall quality control procedures by continuous monitoring of

the as-mined coal at the Preparation Plant. This information

is reported immediately to the mine production supervisors.

17

HUNTER VAT.T.EY COAL PREPARATION PLANT

Run-of--Mine Coal Handling

The plant has two 1200 tph run-of-mine receival paths, each

consisting of a 500 tonne capacity road dump hopper, rotary

breaker, sampling station, conveyors and a slewing/luffing

stacker.

Two 80,000 tonne run-of-mine coal stockpiles and one 72,000

tonne capacity clean coal stockpile are provided. Run-of-mine

stockpile capacity covers a maximum of eight days mine

operation. An emergency run-of-mine stockpile area is

available if the receival system is inoperable for an

extended period. This emergency stockpile is located inside

the road loop to the dump hopper.

Three single boom portal scraper reclaimers of 1250 tph

capacity are used on each of the three major stockpiles. Raw

coal can be fed to the overland conveyor for transport to

Liddell Coal Preparation Plant. Two screening and crushing

stations are also provided to reduce run-of-mine coal to minus

45mm if required by the customer specification. After

crushing, the feed coal passes through a 400 tonne capacity

surge bin and is distributed to two conveyors feeding the coal

preparation plant.

Coal Preparation Plant

The coal preparation plant comprises four identical modules,

each consisting of dense medium cyclones and water washing

cyclones. Each module has a nominal capacity of 225 tph run-

of-mine coal providing a total capacity of 900 tph. The plant

operates with any combination of modules, while the remainder

stop for maintenance.

I'

Dense medium cyclones are used to wash 45 - 0.5mm coal and

water washing cyclones treat the minus 0.5mm fraction.

The washing plant is controlled from a central control room

using programmable logic controllers (PLCs) for all sequence

and analogue control functions. All coal handling equipment

is controlled by PLCs some of which are located in

substations or onboard the stockpile machines. All

communications between PLCs are monitored by micro-computers

which guide the operator in starting up and shutting down

systems. Information packages include device status tables,

analogue displays, alarms and other diagnostics. The

computers also provide event log and shift reports.

The computers provide important assistance to the operators

including a machine anti-collision system. All operator

commands are input from the control desk or local stations

directly to the PLCs. The distribution of control functions

between several dedicated PLCs is designed to isolate the

impact of control equipment failures to individual sections of

the operation.

Solid reject from the coal preparation plant is conveyed to a

500 tonne bin and loaded into rear dump trucks for placement

with the overburden at the mine.

Tailings from the plant are pumped to settling ponds from

which reclaimed water is returned to the coal preparation

plant.

Clean Coal Handling

Clean coal from the plant is transported by overland conveyor

to the Hunter Valley Loading Point. Alternatively, if the

conveyor is being used for raw coal transfer to Liddell,

provision is made to stack out clean coal using a third

stacker on the clean coal stockpile.

19

20

All clean coal passes through the sampling station prior to

the stockpiling or transfer to the overland conveyor.

Analysis results are quickly fed back to the plant supervisors

to assist quality control and are used to monitor plant

performance.

Clean coal is reclaimed from the clean coal stockpile using a

1250 tph variable speed reclaimer identical to the two raw

coal reclaimers.

A 7.4km, 2000 tph overland conveyor transports run-of-mine

coal to the Liddell site and clean coal to the Hunter Valley

Loading Point.

The conveyor is a Cable Belt design utilising two heavy steel

cables to carry the 1050mm wide conveyor belt at a belt speed

of 4m/sec. A single flight conveyor incorporating a 3600mm

radius curvature in plan helps to optimise system reliability.

The conveyor route follows the coal haulage road 4600 metres,

then deviates over undisturbed ground crossing under the New

England Highway and over the existing Electricity Commission

conveyor and shire road via steel trestle bridges. The

conveyor terminates at a 500 tonne surge bin where samples

are taken of all coal to check quality prior to feeding to the

Hunter Valley Loading Point. Run-of-mine coal is diverted to

the Liddell Coal Preparation Plant just prior to the surge

bin. There is a fail safe arrangement to ensure that clean

coal and run-of-mine coal are not mixed.

HUNTER VALLEY LOADING POINT

The Hunter Valley Loading Point incorporates two stockpiles

and a train loading facility. Each stockpile has a capacity

of 200,000 tonnes fed by a single 2000 tph stacker. Two twin

boom portal scraper reclaimers with a nominal capacity of 2000

tph are used to recover coal from the two stockpiles.

Stacking, reclaiming and train loading is controlled and

monitored by PLCs and computer. Each machine has an onboard

PLC which provides information to a central master PLC in the

control room.

Coal from the overland conveyor is fed to a surge bin and

then to a short conveyor across the railway line, terminating

in the Transfer Station. Coal is then fed onto the stacking

out conveyors and the slewing/luffing stacker. The Transfer

Station, which contains the control room, is the transfer

point for all conveyors on site. A weightometer communicating

with the computer in the control room ensures coal inventory

control.

The 800 tonne capacity train loading bin has twin outlets and

can load trains either entering or leaving the rail loop.

Loading takes place as the wagons move and with a loading

rate of 3200 tph, fully satisfies the State Rail Authority as

a Category A loading facility.

An automatic final product sampler at the top of the train

loading bin checks the quality of all reclaimed coal during

despatch. The system of automatic samplers and blending

controls at Hunter Valley Coal Preparation Plant and Hunter

Valley Loading Point provides maximum quality control from ROM

raw coal receival to final product despatch. The samples are

analysed in the Laboratory at Liddell Coal Preparation Plant.

01

22

LIDDELL COAL PREPARATION PLANT

Liddell Coal Preparation Plant beneficiates raw coal produced

at Liddell Colliery and Hunter Valley No 1 Mine.

The plant has an annual throughput in excess of 2.0 million

tonne. The rated capacity of the plant is 550 tph.

Run-of-mine coal from underground longwall mining operations

at Liddell Colliery is delivered to the preparation plant by

conveyor via two surge bins of 500 and 1500 tonnes capacity.

Run-of-mine coal from Hunter Valley No 1 Mine is delivered by

overland conveyor and passes through two 1500 tonne surge

bins before entering the preparation plant.

Both run-of-mine coal receival systems have emergency

stockpiling facilities adjacent to their respective surge

bins.

A dense medium drum, two dense medium cyclones, froth

flotation cells and spiral classifiers are used for the

preparation of the coal. The washing plant is controlled from

a central control room which is in constant communication with

the on-site laboratory. All plant operations including

separation cut point are monitored and controlled to maintain

the product quality.

Product coal is stacked out on a stockpile area adjacent to

the plant using a 500 tph tripper conveyor. Recovery from the

stockpile is via an underground reclaim system which supplies

coal to a 1750 tonne bin situated over the railway lines.

With a loading rate of 3000 tph this facility also satisfies

the State Rail Authority as a Category A Loading Facility.

An automatic final product sampler is installed at the rail

loading bin. The samples are analysed by the laboratory at

Liddell Coal Preparation Plant.

Coal & Allied operates a fully equipped central laboratory at

Liddell Coal Preparation Plant to ensure that it meets the

specifications required by customers. The laboratory operates

24 hours a day analysing coal samples from Liddell Colliery,

Liddell Coal Preparation Plant, Hunter Valley No 1 Mine and

Hunter Valley Coal Preparation Plant.

Run-of-mine coal from Hunter Valley No 1 Mine is siiipled when

delivered to the preparation plants, prior to preparation.

The prepared coal is sampled and analysed as a complete

product and then placed in stockpile prior to despatch to the

Port. Immediate analysis of samples enables plant operation

personnel to maintain quality specifications.

Each unit train load of washed coal shipped from Hunter Valley

Loading Point or Liddell Coal Preparation Plant is sampled and

analysed to ensure that the final coal quality being sent to

the Port for export meets the requirements of contract

specification.

Modern automatic coal sampling systems ensure that all

sampling is performed strictly to approved standards. The

systems were designed and installed by companies recognised

internationally as leaders in coal sampling and analysis.

The Liddell laboratory is equipped with modern testing

equipment and sample preparation areas. All analysis is

performed to the standards of Australian and International

standards organisations. The laboratory is staffed by

skilled technicians trained in the latest methods and

techniques of coal sampling and analysis.

From the time preliminary bore core samples are taken, at

least four sampling and analysis procedures are carried out

prior to cargo assembly - a commitment to quality and to

satisfy each customer's particular requirements.

23

- Upper

TOPSOIL STRIPPING &

UNCONSOLIDATED

DRILLING & VEGETATION CLEARING

OVERBURDEN REMOVAL

BLASTING