A new Bowen Basin coal mine has been opened and the Queensland Government has welcomed the news of its expansion that is set to deliver more jobs to the State.
The $1.76 billion Byerwen coal mine - located approximately 20 kilometres west of Glenden - will support up to 350 jobs during construction and 500 jobs once the mine is fully operational.This mine expansion is a joint venture between QCoal and JFE Steel.
“This is a great day for Queensland and a great day for Queensland jobs.
“JFE Steel is one of our biggest customers and partners and there simply is no other way to make steel that with metallurgical coal,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
With the expansion, the mine’s production rate is anticipated to increase from 3Mtpa to 10Mtpa over Byerwen’s mine life.
JFE Steel has purchased approximately 15 million tonnes of metallurgical coal from Queensland, making the company one of the biggest customers of coal.
The Byerwen project secured its mining leases in April 2017 from the Queensland Government and this facilitated the first mining operations to commence at the end of last year, with the first shipment of metallurgical coal to Fukuyama steel works in January of this year.
“Demand for Queensland resources will continue to grow, driven by global population growth.
“Queensland has a strong future when it comes to coal - demand for metallurgical coal will stay with us as customers like India and China and Japan continue to need steel,” Mines Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said.
The Byerwen coal mine is one of a number of metallurgical coal projects facilitated by the Queensland Government. The Coordinator-General is currently progressing approvals for other projects including the $1 billion Olive Downs metallurgical coal mine - located 40 kilometres south east of Moranbah - which will support up to 1,000 operational jobs and 500 construction jobs; and the $1 billion Winchester South coal project - located near Moranbah - which is set to support another $1 billion of investment as well as 950 jobs.
“We have new projects with coordinated approval like Olive Downs and Winchester South near Moranbah.
“And of course, this means not just jobs now and into the future, but also royalties that help fund our teachers and nurses and police officers,” Dr Lynham said.
Earlier this year, CIMIC Group company Sedgman was awarded a $155 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to deliver an expansion to Stage 1 of the Byerwen project. You can read more about it here.
Receive the latest industry news and project updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to Felix Project News today.
Source: Queensland Government; Australian Mining; Star 106.3; Mining Weekly
