Hail creek

The Hail Creek open cut coal mine in the Bowen Basin Region of Central Queensland, that is located 120 kilometres from Mackay, supplies up to eight million tonnes of hard coking coal to steel mills in Asia and Europe each year. However, this production level was halted in 2010 and again in 2011 when the mine was severely effected by heavier than usual monsoonal rains in late 2010 and again in early 2011, when struck by the damaging Cyclone Yasi. The effect was so bad the mine operator, Rio Tinto Coal Australia, was forced to declare Force Majeure on both occasions to protect itself against breach of contract claims.

Hail Creek Mine Began Production in 2003
The coal resource at the site of the Hail Creek Mine was discovered in 1968, construction began in 2001 and it was officially opened in 2003. The new mine was producing up to six million tonnes of coal a year until 2006 when it underwent considerable expansion that increased production to eight million tonnes annually.

Hail Creek Open cut Employs More Than 1,000 Personnel
The Hail Creek coal mine is managed and operated by Rio Tinto Coal Australia on behalf of its joint venture partners that consist of Rio Tinto, through its wholly owned subsidiary Queensland Coal Pty Ltd, Nippon Steel Australia, Marubeni Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation. The mine is an open cut operation that uses the conventional drag line, truck and shovel method of mining. It employs more than 1,000 employees who work in shifts to keep the mine operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Permian Coal Deposit Stretches over 600 Kilometres
The coal deposit from which the Hail Creek mine is extracting coal is part of the giant Permian Coal Basin that extends over 600 kilometres in length and 250 kilometres in width. The coal mined by the Hail Creek operation comes from two coal seams; the Elphinstone Seam that is, on average, 6.4 metres thick and the Hynds Seam that averages 8.3 metres in thickness.

Hail Creek has Reserves of 72 Million Tonnes
The semi soft coking and hard coal produced at the Hail Creek mine is washed and made ready for sale before it is loaded onto coal trains that take it 100 kilometres to the Dalrymple Bay Coal terminal. It is exported out of Dalrymple Bay to the company's international buyers. As at the end of December 2011 the Hail Creek Mine had coal reserves of 72 million tonnes.

Hail Creek Mine Gives Community Support
In 2006 the company established the Hail Creek Community Development Fund to give support to the neighbouring communities of Sarina, Mirani, Mackay and Nebo. The fund provides money to the local municipalities to assist in building community capacity, address development challenges and to assist the councils in taking advantage of emerging opportunities. Since the fund was established it has provided over $950,000 to these communities for various projects. The company also re-launched the Wiri Yuwiburra Community Benefit Trust in 2008. This particular fund is set up to provide assistance to the local indigenous people for the next 20 years.

Rio Tinto Coal Australia is a leading mining company in Australia with an established record for developing and managing world standard open cut, as well as underground, coal mines. The Hail Creek Mine is an example of the company providing more than simply providing local employment opportunities and ensuring economic growth for the area as it also works to create positive outcomes for the wider Mackay Region.