Kestrel coal mine

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Kestrel Coal Mine
Krupp stacker rtca kestrel mine.jpg
Krupp coal stacker at Kestrel Mine, 2007
Location
Kestrel Coal Mine is located in Queensland
Kestrel Coal Mine
Kestrel Coal Mine
Location51 km northeast of Emerald
Queensland
CountryAustralia
Coordinates23°14′9″S 148°21′59″E / 23.23583°S 148.36639°E / -23.23583; 148.36639Coordinates: 23°14′9″S 148°21′59″E / 23.23583°S 148.36639°E / -23.23583; 148.36639
Production
ProductsCoking coal, thermal coal
History
Opened1992
Owner
CompanyKestrel Joint Venture (Queensland Coal 80%, Mitsui 20%)
External video
video icon Rio Tinto Coal Australia's Kestrel underground mine in Queensland

The Kestrel Coal Mine is an underground coal mine located in the Bowen Basin at Crinum, 51 km northeast of Emerald in Central Queensland, Australia. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 158 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserves in Asia and the world. The mine has an annual production capacity of 4 million tonnes of coal.[1] Both hard/semi hard coking coal and thermal coal is mined.[2]

The mine was previously known as Gordonstone Mine.[3] The Kestrel Mine is owned by the Kestrel Joint Venture which comprises Kestrel Coal Resources and Mitsui Kestrel Coal Investment.[4][2] The mine has been managed by Rio Tinto Coal Australia until 2018 when it was sold to Kestrel Coal Resources( a joint venture between and Adaro Energy).[4]

In October 2013, the Kestrel South coal mine extension was opened.[5] The extension allowed for an increased production of six million tonnes a year.[5] The mine's life was extended by 20 years. During part of 2013 and through 2014 operations at Kestrel North were wound down.[4]

A 7.9 km overland conveyor is used to transfer coal to a coal handling and preparation plant.[4][2] Coal is then transported by the Blackwater railway system to the Port of Gladstone for export. Customers are mainly located in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Europe, India and China.[4]

Industrial dispute[]

The mine was the subject of a long-running workers' strike from October 1997 to August 1999, commemorated in the heritage-listed Lilyvale Stand Monument.[6]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Bowen Basin coal mines". bowenbasin.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "Kestrel Mine Extension Fact Sheet" (PDF). Rio Tinto Coal Australia. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  3. ^ "Kestrel Mine (QLD)". Rio Tinto. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Rio Tinto's Kestrel Mine Extension starts production". MINING.com. 13 July 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  5. ^ a b Alex Heber (15 October 2013). "Rio's Kestrel South mine officially open for business". Australian Mining. Cirrus Media. Archived from the original on 21 November 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  6. ^ "Lilyvale Stand Monument (entry 602167)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
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