Jellinbah east

The Jellinbah East black coal open pit mine in the Bowen Basin Region of Queensland, that is located on the Tropic of Capricorn near the town of Bluff, transports its coal production of 4.6 million tonnes a year, 300 kilometres by rail, to the Gladstone port for exporting overseas.

The Jellinbah East Mine Began Production in 1989
The Jellinbah East Mine has been producing coal since 1989 at its open cut
operations that is carried out in the conventional manner by means of overburden drilling and blasting to loosen it sufficiently so it can be removed by shovel and truck and dozer push.

Jellinbah Coal is Ideally Suited to Pulverised Coal Injection Usage
Coal mined at Jellinbah East is a low volatile bituminous black coal that has a low ash and sulphur content combined with high specific energy. Coal with these properties is ideally suited to PCI (pulverised coal injection) and super soft coking coal that is blended for the purposes of making coke. The Jellinbah Group have a 70 percent interest in the mining operation, the other two partners in the venture being Marubeni Coal and Sojitz Coal that hold 15 percent each.

Two Pits Currently Make up the Jellinbah Coal Mining Operation
The two pits in operation at the Jellinbah East mine at the present time is, Jellinbah Central, that is both owned and operated by the joint venture partners and, Plains Pit, that although owned by the joint venture partners, is operated by mining contractor John Holland. The thickness of the coal seam at both pits and the favourable strip ratio makes the Jellinbah mine highly productive.

Eighty Percent of Jellinbah Coal is Impurity Free
Coal mined at the Jellinbah operation is subjected to crushing and screening in a plant capable of handling 1,200 tonnes of coal an hour. Quality sampling is taken during the crushing and screening process to determine the products ash content. After the coal leaves the crushing and screening process it is then either taken to the coal preparation plant, or left in a crushed coal stockpile. Eighty percent of the coal mined has very few, if any, impurities, this means it can be selectively mined and sold without being processed in readiness to become PCI quality coal. The remaining 20 percent has a higher ash content and requires washing in the processing plant before it is blended with the unprocessed coal. The coal is then taken by truck 25 kilometres to a railway siding. From here it is loaded onto coal trains, that can haul 7,500 tonnes at a time, for transportation to the Gladstone port.

Jellinbah East Coal Mine Carefully Reshaped and Rehabilitated
After an area has been mined it is carefully reshaped and rehabilitated. Top soil is spread over the reclaimed area and it is then seeded in compliance with Queensland Government environmental requirements.

The Jellinbah coal deposit stretches over a distance of 30 kilometres. The main coal seam being mined is the Pollux seam that averages eight metres in thickness. This coal seam dips slightly to the east and splits into two other seams, the Pollux Upper and the Pollux Lower seams. Coal reserves to the eastern boundary of the mining lease, that includes the Pollux seam, exceed 350 million tonnes. Other coal seams within the lease holding exceed 50 million tonnes.
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