Boggabri

The Boggabri Coal mine, located in the Gunnedah Basin in New South Wales, is wholly owned by Boggabri Coal, a fully owned subsidiary of Japanese company, Idemitsu Australia Resources. Construction of the mine began in early 2006 with the first coal produced in October, the same year.

The Boggabri Open pit Mine is Operated by Downer EDI
Boggabri Coal produces up to five million tonnes of coal a year with mine
workers operating the mine for 21 hours each day, seven days a week. Coal is extracted from the open pit mine with the use of hydraulic excavators and rear dump trucks. The Boggabri coal mine produces thermal coal for export and employs around 150 workers. Many of whom work for mining contractor Downer EDI.

The Boggabri Mine is Situated in the Leard State Forest
The Boggabri coal mine is actually located in the Leard State Forest, off the flood plains that exist in the locality. The Leard State Forest is recognised as being an important coal resource and mining in the region is strictly controlled environmentally. The company is currently planning to recover additional coal reserves within the State Forest that will ensure coal mining continues in the area until at least 2032. This expansion, that will allow production to reach seven million tonnes a year, will be achieved through the modification of existing plant facilities and additional mining equipment. It will also require the building of extra coal handling infrastructure and administration facilities in order to support the increased production. It is planned to construct a new 600,000 tonne stockpile area along with an associated reclamation system. The project will require more than 300 full time workers.

Japanese Company Idemitsu Kosan own the Boggabri Mine
Idemitsu Australia Resources Pty Ltd, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese owned, Idemitsu Kosan Company. Idemitsu Australia Resources being formed in 2006 to manage the Japanese owners Australian coal interests. Coal produced at the Boggabri operation is exported to its overseas customers, who are mostly in Asia.

Boggabri Produces Thermal, PCI and Semi-soft Coking Coal
The Boggabri mine, about 15 kilometres north east of the New South Wales town of the same name, produces thermal, PCI and semi-soft cocking coal. The coal that has been removed from the pit is recovered from the ROM pad by front end loaders and fed into the crusher for sizing purposes. The crushed coal is then conveyed to a product bin where it awaits loading onto B-double trucks that take it to the railway load-out facility, 17 kilometres from the mine site. From there it is loaded onto train wagons that take it to the port at Newcastle for exporting.

The open cut mining technique carried out at the Boggabri mine allows for full recovery of all available coal down to the Merriown coal seam. This allows the Boggabri operation to mine coal from the Merriown,, Jeralong, Bolloi Creek and Braymont coal seams.
As certain areas become mined out, rehabilitation work begins. The spoil is reshaped by bulldozers and stored top soil spread over the new surface before it is seeded with native grasses and planted with native trees to comply with the company's re-afforestation commitments.