The Fitzroy group says it is on track to begin longwall production at its new Ironbark No.1 mine next year as the Bowen Basin operation begins to take shape.
The company has shared images on social media showing how the team ‘has taken a site from a paddock to a well-advanced mining operation, driving the drifts in just four short months’.
A company spokesman said the Ironbark No.1 drifts were expected to be completed mid-2022 with the first development units commencing in July 2022.
“Longwall coal will commence in late 2023,” he said. “This new project provides many opportunities for existing Fitzroy employees as well as new people wishing to join the group.”
Fitzroy Australia Resources acquired Ironbark No.1, the neighbouring Carborough Downs mine and the Broadlea project from Brazilian mining giant Vale in November 2016.
The State Government approved the mining lease for Ironbark No. 1 in 2018, with the mine expected to produce up to 6 million tonnes per annum run of mine coal, mostly hard coking coal.
The Ironbark No.1 mine, 35km north-east of Moranbah, will share the same CHPP and administration infrastructure as Fitzroy’s existing Carborough Downs mine.
That CHPP facility is also set to process coal from Bowen Coking Coal’s new Broadmeadow East mine from mid-year.