Baralaba

The Baralaba open pit black coal mine near the town of Baralaba in central Queensland, is owned by Baralaba Coal Pty Ltd which in turn is owned by Cockatoo Coal Mines (62.5 percent) and JFE Shoji Trade Corporation of Japan (37.5 percent). It produces both thermal and PCI coal from multiple coal seams that are located in the Rangal Coal Measures. Ninety percent of the coal produced is PCI coal. The mine is located within a 550 square kilometre area of the company's exploration projects.

Coal Mined at Baralaba is Exported Overseas
Coal mined at Baralaba is transported 180 kilometres to Gladstone for shipping overseas and the company, which is confident of solid growth over the next 10 years or more, is planning extensive expansion to meet the demand that is expected to reach 3.5 million tonnes a year. The company is presently producing 950,000 tonnes of coal a year and this will be expanded to 3.5 million tonnes per annum from 2014/15.On current calculations the Baralaba mine has a life expectancy of at least 20 years.

PCI Coal a Cheaper Alternative to Coking Coal
The majority PCI (pulverised coal injection)coal produced at the Baralaba open pit mine is a result of the declining amount of coking coal in the world coal market which has caused its price to grow substantially. This price increase has seen global steel and iron manufacturers look around for a cheaper alternative that would lower their expensive coke requirements costs. PCI coal from the Baralaba mine is injected into the blast furnace of a steel mill as an auxiliary fuel in order to lower the amount of coking coal needed when in the process of making pig iron that ultimately finishes up as being crude steel. Most modern furnaces are equipped to handle such a process as coal grinding and injection is far cheaper to install than is a coke oven installation.

Baralaba ñ A Coal Mining Area Since 1901
The Baralaba open pit black coal mine is near the Dawson River, in the Bowen Basin, where coal mining first started in 1901. By 1916 a State owned coal mine was established there and in 1921 the Mount Morgan Mining Company began operations.

Coal mining development in the area was encouraged when a railway line was constructed through to Baralaba from Rannes in 1917. This also saw the small settlement ask for a school to be established to provide education for the miners children. As a result a tent school was opened in 1918. The tent school survived for ten years until a more permanent establishment was built. This building still serves as the Baralaba school's administrative building today.

Baralaba Mine Operated by Huddy's Mining Services
The Baralaba coal mine is operated for Cockatoo Coal by Huddy's Mining Services, a subsidiary of Industrea. Industrea was an Australian company that is now fully owned by global financial company GE. Huddy's have the responsibility of providing the services of drilling and blasting at the site, mine maintenance, equipment, operators and a senior site executive.

The mine that currently covers an area of eight square kilometres, was acquired by Cockatoo Coal in 2008 from Peabody Pacific. The mine has 2.5 million tonnes of measured category resources and inferred resources of 76.8 million tonnes. Peabody Pacific began mining at Baralaba in October 2005, three years before selling it to Cockatoo Coal. The mining operation is carried out in the conventional shovel and truck method because of the soft overburden and steeply dipping coal seams. The coal undergoes crushing and screening on-site before being loaded into railway wagons for transit to Gladstone.