Mine Details
Drake
http://www.qcoal.com.au
brown-coal, Town, DiDo
Phone:
Address:
40 Creek Rd, Brisbane, QLD, 4000
State: 40 Creek Rd, Brisbane, QLD, 4000
Email:
The Drake open cut coal mine in the northern Bowen Basin region ofcentral Queensland is located 17 kilometres south of the town ofCollinsville and 150 kilometres north east of the regional centre ofMackay. It is sited within the Whitsunday Regional Council municipality.The Drake mine access is via the Bowen Development Road.
Coal From the Drake Mine is to be Exported out of Abbot Point
The Drake project, that is owned by QCoal Group and being developedadjacent to the Bowen River, is to operate seven days a week using theconventional open-cut truck and excavator method of mining. Coal miningat the Drake mine will produce six million tonnes a year of thermal andhigh quality coking coal that will be exported from the Abbot Point CoalTerminal located on the coast near Bowen. The Drake life of mine isexpected to last for 30 years.Drake Coal Mining Project to Benefit From the Northern Hub
QCoal has fast tracked the Drake Project to enable it to come on line inDecember, 2014, by adopting a new business strategy that involves thecompany creating a northern hub to better accommodate its raft of projectsthat include the Drake, Sonoma, Cows and Jax coal mining operations. Thehub will provide existing infrastructure already being used by thecompany's nearby Sonoma coal mine. Making use of the Sonoma mine'scoal processing and load-out infrastructure in the Drake mine's initial years of operation saves the company having to find additional capital costs. It also benefits by having the Drake mine contribute to total production earlier than first thought possible.Drake Mine Obtains all its Required Approvals
The Drake coal mining project has obtained all the required governmentapprovals to allow it to start mining. It is not yet certain if the mine is to be operated by QCoal itself, or if it is going to appoint a contractor, although the initial plan was to use the services of a mining contractor as it has previously done on its other projects. QCoal has close contractual working relationships with industry heavyweights such as; SAB Mining, Sedgman and Leightons. Once fully operational the Drake mine is expected to employ around 200 mine workers. QCoal already employsmore than 300 workers at its Sonoma and Cows operations where Leightoncontractors and SAB Mining Services provide mining contract work.Sedgman is responsible for the train loading and coal processingoperations. QCoal is planning to obtain a coal production rate of 20 million tonnes a year by 2010.Drake Mine to Contribute to QCoal's 20 Million Tonne a Year Forecast
The success of the northern hub is critical to QCoal achieving its goal ofproducing 20 million tonnes of coal a year, an ambition that requires thecoming on line of the nearby Byerwen project. The success these operationwill bring to the towns of Glenden and Collinsville will do much to breathe life back into these communities once again. The company has chosen to create the northern hub rather work the mines as stand alone operations in order to avoid the uncertainties associated with fluctuating market conditions. By treating the region as a whole QCoal have been able to ensure its operation will be as sustainable as possible.QCoal Pty Ltd is a privately owned mining company that has beeninvolved in exploration and development of coal mines in Queenslandsince it was founded in 1989.
