Carborough downs

The Carborough Downs coal mine is operated by Carborough Downs Coal Management Pty Ltd which is majority owned by international company,Vale. It is an underground coal mine situated near the open cut coal mining operation, Broadlea North, that is also owned and operated by the company.

Carborough Downs was Vale's First Australian Mining Operation
The Carborough Downs Mine is located in the Bowen Basin region of central Queensland, 180 kilometres south west of Mackay and 20 kilometres east of Moranbah. Vale has been the operator of the mine since it entered the Australian mining industry in 2007 by acquiring the assets of the mine's former owner AMCI Holdings.

Coal Produced at the Carborough Downs Mine is Used in Steel Making
The Carborough Downs coal production consists of PCI (pulverised coal injection), semi-hard coking and hard coking coal for the export market where is is sold to international steel makers. The operation has a life of mine until 2019 at present rates of production although there is potential for the extension of production beyond that time.

Carborough Downs Mine Commissioned in 2006
Commissioning of the Carborough Downs Mine occurred in August 2006 when it operated as a bord and pillar mine utilising two continuous miners undertaking a cut and flit method of mining. In 2009 Vale undertook a considerable expansion program that changed the mining method to a more modern longwall operation that took the annual production level to 2.4 million tonnes of product coal and 3.5 million tonnes of run-of-mine (ROM) coal. The Leichhardt coal seam being mined is rather uniform in that it ranges from 5.7 to 4.5 metres in thickness, with a resource of between 280 and 300 million tonnes.

Coal From Carborough Downs Mine Exported From Hay Point
The coal is transported from the mine to the on site processing plant by means of an overland conveying system. The coal handling and processing plant (CHPP) is capable of processing 1,000 tonnes of coal an hour, seven days a week. Once processed the coal is loaded into railway wagons at the specifically constructed rail load out facility and taken 160 kilometres to the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal located at Hay Point from where it is loaded onto ships for exporting to the company's overseas customers.

Carborough Downs Mine Employs Around 500 People
There are approximately 500 people employed at the Carborough Downs Mine that is 80 percent owned by Vale, five percent owned by both Nippon Steel Corporation, POSCO and Tata Steel and 2.5 percent by JFE Steel Corporation and JFE Shoji Trade Corporation.

Carborough Downs Mine Production Hampered by Adverse Incidents
The mine has been unfortunate in recent years in having experienced adverse weather conditions and geotechnical conditions in a steep profile at the coal seam that was responsible for some of the mine roof collapsing. These conditions resulted in lower coal yields and a high percentage of rock turning up in the ROM. Mine workers are housed at the Coppabella camp from where they are transported to the mine each day by bus.

Two Carborough Downs Leases Join Under the Peak Downs Highway
The existing Carborough Downs Mine is covered by two mining leases, the Annadale lease that is located to the north of, and under, the Peak Downs Highway and the Carborough Downs lease that covers the area south of the Peak Downs Highway. The two areas are linked by a road that passes under the highway.
†