Broughton Coal Mining Pty Ltd
Broughton Coal Joint Venture:
- Bowen Basin location - Queensland's premier coal province
- Development options under review
- 30 million tonne coal resource contained in two seams
- Hard and semi-hard coking coal
- Adjacent to Rio Tinto’s Hail Creek
- Existing 100km rail link to Dalrymple Bay coal export facility
In June 2005, Eastern entered a Joint Venture Agreement with Mitsui Coal holdings to complete a feasibility study into the development of the Broughton coking coal resource.
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The Broughton coal tenement (EPC 818) adjoins Rio Tinto’s Hail Creek coking coal mine in the northern Bowen Basin, Australia’s premier coal province, and is approximately 100 kilometres from the Dalrymple Bay coal export facility by rail line which crosses the Broughton tenement.
Mitsui has a long and successful history of investment in Australian coal projects. Mitsui’s involvement in Broughton is an important step towards the project’s development.
Under the Joint Venture Agreement, Mitsui acquired a 10% project interest in Eastern’s wholly-owned subsidiary Broughton Coal Mining Pty Ltd (BCM) for $4 million. Mitsui has the right to acquire an additional 20% in the project for a further payment of $11 million upon completion of a feasibility study. BCM will act as operator for the Joint Venture.
Broughton contains an estimated combined Measured, Indicated and Inferred Coal Resource of 30 million tonnes (16.5mt Measured, 8.5mt Indicated and 5mt Inferred), accessible by conventional open cut methods. The cumulative stripping ratio is between 5:1 and 10:1 in the north increasing to 15:1 in the south. The resource is contained within two separate seams, the Elphinstone and the Hynds.
Coal quality studies have revealed hard and semi-hard coking coal with the possible option of producing a secondary thermal product.
In early 2007 Eastern announced that it would not be proceeding to develop the Broughton coal resource as a stand alone project in the near term. The joint venture will continue to review development options for the Broughton project including development in conjunction with adjoining holders to maximise economics based on an expanded operation.