Wilpinjong

The Peabody Energy owned Wilpinjong coal mine is located in mid-west New South Wales, 40 kilometres north east of Mudgee. It produces a high quality thermal coal that is sold to the domestic and export market. The mine's largest domestic customer is Macquarie Generation which has a long term contract with Peabody Energy to supply them with Wilpinjong coal. Peabody Energy has recently sought to expand the Wilpinjong mine to allow it to mine an extra three million tonnes of coal from the operation. The expansion will create a further 80 positions at the mine that already employs 550 direct employees. The expansion will also expand the project by a further 70 hectares, build a light vehicle workshop for servicing purposes and upgrade the Coal Handling and Preparation Plant (CHPP).

Wilpinjong is one of the Lowest Cost Coal Mines in Australia
Peabody Energy, the largest private sector coal mining company in the world, acquired the Wilpinjong open pit coal mine in 2006 from Excel Coal and developed it as one of the lowest cost coal mining operation in Australia.

Wilpinjong Developed and Operated by Thiess Until 2013
Mining contractor Thiess was awarded the contract to develop the Wilpinjong coal mine for Excel Coal from its initial concept. This close relationship continued when the mine was acquired by Peabody Energy and went on to operate the mine until 2013, when Peabody Energy took over the day to day operation of the mine in its own right. Thiess' contract was to undertake the clearing of earthworks, undertake all necessary civil concrete work, the construction of the tailings dams, the building of roads and rail infrastructure, including the rail loadout facility. Thiess also constructed all the mine support buildings including administration offices and workshops.

Thiess partnered with Sedgman and operated as a 50/50 joint venture arrangement to design and build the Coal Handling and Preparation Plant at the Wilpinjong mine, where the raw coal is crushed and washed before being stockpiled, to await transportation to the train loading facility.

Wilpinjong Mine Fitted out With GPS
All the major plants at the Wilpinjong Mine are fitted with a GPS (global positioning system) to ensure accuracy to within 100mm for all positions and levels. The mine also uses larger bucket sizes on its excavators and larger bodies on its haulage trucks to maximise loads. The bulldozer blades have also been modified to facilitate fill characteristics. The Wilpinjong Mine produced 12.5 million tonnes of coal in 2012. It has a life of mine to 2027.

Rehabilitation and Reclamation Already Underway at the Wilpinjong Mine Site
The fact that the Wilpinjong Mine is a relative new operation has not stopped it from getting on with rehabilitation and reclamation work. It has already employed specialists in this area to manage such matters, as well as communicating with surrounding land holders and other parties. The Wilpinjong Mine Rehabilitation Management Plan takes into account many future land use matters that include the creation of a woodland habitat and grazing activities.

Wilpinjong Mine has Comprehensive Native Title Agreement
The Wilpinjong coal mining management have created a strong relationship with local indigenous people with whom they have entered into a comprehensive Native Title Agreement. This agreement involves the establishment and joint management of a Native Title Business Trust which oversees a wide range of local community based activities and organisations.