Dawson

The Dawson mine is located on the Dawson Highway in the Dawson Valley near the Central Queensland town of Moura, 140 kilometres south west of the port at Gladstone. It is owned by the Moura Joint Venture whose partners consist of Anglo American Metallurgical Coal Pty Ltd (51 percent) and Mitsui Coal Holdings Pty Ltd (49 percent).

Dawson Mine Has two Major Milestones; the first to use drag-lines and the first coal exporter to Japan
The Dawson open cut coal mine has been in production since the 1960's. In 1961 it became the first Australian coal mine to export coal to Japan and in 1963 it became the first mine to use drag-lines as part of its mining operation. In 2011the mine still had over 280 million tonnes of known coal reserves. The Dawson coal mine takes in three coal mining areas that stretch over a distance of 60 kilometres. The actual lease area is almost twice that distance.

Leighton Holdings Became Mining Contractor at the Dawson Mine in 2010
Mining contractor Leighton Holdings was awarded the contract to conduct mining services at the Dawson mine in November 2010. This contract is due to expire in December 2014. Under the contract Leighton Holdings are responsible for all surface mining. It includes the existing open cut as well as any any new greenfield expansions such as the Dawson North pit. The contract gave Leighton Holdings the following responsibilities:

- The provision of an adequate mining fleet, drilling program, supervision, survey services and engineering design at the mine site
- The establishment of a new greenfields satellite pit that involved the stripping of top soil, the construction of the pit including the haulage road network, soil and overburden dumps, surface drainage etc.
- Mining out the 2.8 million tonnes of Run of Mine (ROM) coal from a new satellite pit
- The mining out of 0.8 million tonnes of ROM coal from an existing pit that had previously been abandoned in 2008

Coal Mined at the Dawson Mine is Railed to Gladstone for Export
The Dawson open cut mine produces thermal, coking and soft coking coal that is mined via the high-wall method. After it is mined and put through the coal preparation plant the coal is taken to the RGTanna Coal terminal situated at Gladstone from where it is exported to India, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.

Dawson Mine Expanded in 2004
In late 2004, the joint venture partners decided to establish two further mining operations at the Dawson mine. This required a new coal treatment plant and extra mining equipment, the construction of a new conveying system, administration buildings and rail out facility.

Dawson Mine Workers Live Locally
Most of the workers at the Dawson mine reside in the nearby towns of Moura, Theodore, Banana, Wowan or Biloela. It is a area that enjoys all the benefits of a modern community such as varied cultural activities, health care facilities, primary and secondary schools, both private and state, as well as tertiary institutions.
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