Bengalla Coal Mine Expansion Begins

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Texas)--Coal and Allied Industries (ASX:CNA) (Brisbane, Australia), a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto Coal Australia (Brisbane), has broken ground for the $141 million Bengalla coal mine expansion. The mine is operating at a capacity of 7.8 million tons per year (ROM production); when the expansion work is complete, it will be 9.3 million tons per year.

The Bengalla joint venture, which consists of Coal and Allied Industries (40%), Wesfarmers Bengalla Limited (ASX:WES) (Perth, Australia) (40%), Taipower Bengalla Pty Limited (Taipei, Taiwan) (10%) and Mitsui Bengalla Investment Pty Limited (Sydney, Australia) (10%), approved the project in late November 2010.

"This investment is an important component of Coal & Allied's plans to expand production at all of its operations in the Hunter Valley," said Coal and Allied Industries Managing Director Bill Champion. "We have secured additional port and rail capacity for this expansion, which is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2012."

The Bengalla coal mine and wash plant has been in operation since April 1999, with the wash plant currently consisting of two 600-ton-per-hour modules that each will be expanded to 850 tons per hour, and a third two-stage module that will be added for the retreating of rejects. The total throughput of the plant will be increased to approximately 2,200 tons per hour. A new tailings filter plant, as well as additional infrastructure and a mining fleet, also will be added.

The Theiss Sedgman Joint Venture (TSJV) was awarded an $85 million contract for the design, procurement, construction and commissioning of the plant expansion on December 1, immediately after the project was approved. Sedgeman has a long history at the mine, including the construction of the original preparation plant, as well as an expansion to the plant feed systems in 2008.

Mining operations at Bengalla utilize a simple strip-mining method, including the use of basic blasting, excavators and draglines to remove the ore and waste, with the coal seam situated very close to the surface. At current production rates, the coal deposit at Bengalla contains enough reserves to enable the mine to operate beyond 2030, with underground mining also a possibility at a later date.

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