Cook

The Cook underground coal mine in the Bowen Basin Region of Queensland is owned by Caledon Resources, a coal mining company operating in Australia, that is a fully owned subsidiary of Chinese company, Guangdong Rising Assets Management, (GRAM), a state owned Chinese investment group. GRAM acquired Caledon Resources in 2011. The Guangdong Province owned Guangsheng Assets Management Company was formed in April 2006 under the authorisation of the state owned, Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, of the
Guangdong Province.

Cook Underground Coal Mine Produces Coal Products for the Export Market
The Cook Colliery, that produces thermal, hard coking and semi-soft black coal for the export market, was formerly owned by Cook Resources Mining Pty Ltd, (CRM). This company was owned by Xstrata and Tokyo Boeki. In 2006 Xstrata Coal sold is share in the mine to Caledon Resources with Caledon being granted a sub-lease to mine the southern region of the main lease as well as accepting responsibility for any later rehabilitation of the site. Cook Resources Mining Pty Ltd retained ownership of the lease northern region.

Cook Colliery Readies Itself to Mine the Argo Coal Seam
The Cook underground coal mine is situated 30 kilometres south of the Queensland town of Blackwater. Two coal seams are mined at the Cook Mine, one being the Castor seam that is located at a depth of 130 metres to 350 metres below the surface, the other is the Argo seam that is situated 15 to 20 metres below the Castor coal seam. Over the preceding years the Castor coal seam has been extensively mined and it is now that more focus is being applied to the Argo seam, especially in the processing of future mine plans. There are around 220 people employed at the Cook Colliery.

The Cook underground mining method has been operated under a continuous mining method incorporating bord and pillar technology, producing 600,000 tonnes of coal a year. However, the Cook Expansion Project, that is to involve the exploitation of the Argo coal seam, will introduce the long wall mining method. This will increase coal output at the mine to 3.5 million tonnes annually. The expansion project will also include the upgrading of the coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP) that will lift the hourly tonnage throughput from 300 tonnes to 500 tonnes.

Linear Mining to be Introduced at the Cook Underground Operation
Ongoing underground mining at the Cook Colliery has been described as being 'linear mining.' This will be the first time this method of mining has been used in Australia although variations have been used in South African and U.S mines in the past. The linear method is totally automatic and known in the industry as 'Magatar' that incorporates a 'Flexiveyor' continuous haulage system as well as a belt storage facility and a mobile, tail-end expandable belt support cartridge.

The system also employs Voest-Alpine ABM25 bolter miners that cut and bolt ahead of the continuous haulage operation. The units are based on previously proven technology, particularly the Flexiveyor system, that has been used in Canadian potash mining operations. The Magatar mining technology together with the whole linear mining approach is particularly suited to the Cook mine where long wall mining methods have failed in the past.

Positive Benefits to be Realised From the Cook Colliery Magater Mining Proposal
The benefits to be derived by using the Magatar method of linear mining at the Cook Mine include the following:

-Less equipment maneuvering
-Manpower reduction
-Lower operating costs
-The doubling and maybe tripling of production

A further advantage is that pillar extraction may also be able to be achieved, although this is still being investigated. In the past bord and pillar panel mining methods have successfully been carried out using the Magatar technology in South Africa, using extensive simulation exercises.