Production at the mine is expected to begin late this year
The mine is expected to employ 180 full time personnel. (Credit: hangela from Pixabay)
Mastermyne has secured a $660m ($510.4m) mining services contract from the Japanese company Sojitz Blue for the Gregory Crinum coal mine in Australia.
The contract term is seven years, including six months for the mine re-establishment.
The re-establishment of the underground infrastructure includes conveyor systems, ventilation, associated mine services, remediation works and surface infrastructure.
After the completion of the re-establishment works, the mine will move to production with a staged ramp up to 3 bord and pillar mining units.
Over the life of the project, the Gregory Crinum mine is estimated to produce approximately 11 million tonnes ROM (run of mine).
Production at the mine is expected to begin in late 2021. At full production, the mine is expected to employ 180 full time personnel.
Underground mining equipment for the project will be provided by Mastermyne from its current fleet, including 3 bord and pillar miners, multi bolters and shuttle cars.
The company will hold ownership of its mining equipment throughout the project.
Sojitz CEO Cameron Vorias said: “We are delighted to have Mastermyne as our highly regarded partner for this development and it will support our strategic plans for the growth of high quality hard coking coal from the area.”
In 2020, Mastermyne was contracted by Sojitz to carry out a feasibility study focusing on the development of a high productivity bord and pillar mining operation.
Located near Emerald in central Queensland, the Gregory Crinum mine was acquired by Sojitz from BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) in 2019. The hard coking coal mine, which is located in the Bowen Basin, was acquired for A$100m.
The site included the Crinum underground mine, Gregory open cut mine, undeveloped coal resources and on-site infrastructure including a coal handling and preparation plant, maintenance workshops and administration facilities.
The mine was placed into care and maintenance in January 2016.
Before production cease, the Gregory Crinum mine’s capacity was six million tonnes of hard coking coal per annum.