Winchester South coal project gets recommended for development

Whitehaven Coal Limited has announced that its Winchester South metallurgical coal project in Queensland’s Bowen Basin has been given the green light for development, subject to conditions. 

Queensland’s Coordinator-General has released the evaluation report on the project’s environmental impact statement (EIS) and has recommended it to proceed. 

This announcement marks a significant milestone on the development of the Winchester South Project as well as for the people of Queensland as well as the company’s trade partners who rely on Australia’s high-quality metallurgical coal – an essential element in steel production. 

“I have considered the EIS documentation, submissions received and agency advice in evaluating the EIS for the project. I consider that the EIS requirements of the SDPWO Act (State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 QLD) for the project to have been met and that sufficient information has been provided to enable my thorough evaluation of the potential impacts of the project. 

“I conclude that any adverse environmental impacts can be adequately avoided, minimised, mitigated and/or offset as required through conditions I have stated and recommended in this report, and proponent commitments outlined in the EIS. 

“Accordingly, I recommend that the project proceed, subject to conditions and recommendations included in this report. I expect that the commitments made by the proponent in the EIS will be fully implemented,” the Coordinator-General stated in their evaluation report. 

The Winchester South Project is located about 30 kilometres southwest of Moranbah, within the Isaac Regional Council local government area. 

The approximately $1 billion project will include: 

• Development of an open cut mine which will produce up to 17 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa)of run-of-mine (ROM) coal and 11 Mtpa of product coal for up to 28 years 
• Construction of an access road from the Eagle Downs Mines Access Road, off the Peak Downs Mine Road to the mine infrastructure area of Winchester South 
• Construction of an 8-kilometre rail spur and loop connecting to the Norwich Park Branch Railway 
• Train load-out facility, including product coal stockpiles for rail transport 
• Construction of a 132 kilovolts (kV) electricity transmission line from Powerlink’s existing Eagle Downs substation to the project and an onsite 132 kV / 22 kV electricity switching/substation 
• Installation of approximately 13 kilometres of raw water supply pipeline connecting the project to the existing Eungella pipeline network 
• Connection to the existing high-speed telecommunications network 
• Construction of a mine infrastructure area including offices, onsite coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP) and workshops 
• Construction of ancillary infrastructure including explosives storage facilities, consumable storage areas, potable water supply, sewage treatment facilities, site communications, remote crib huts and security 

The Winchester South metallurgical coal project is expected to support up to 500 jobs – including full-time equivalent construction jobs and full-time equivalent operational jobs. 

Source: Whitehaven Coal Limited (1, 2); Queensland Government – State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning (1, 2); Australian Mining; Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly