Mine Details

Norwich park

http://www.bmacoal.com

Phone: 

Address: QLD, 

State:  QLD,

Email: 

http://www.bmacoal.com

 

The Norwich Park open cut coal mine that is located 256 kilometres south west of Mackay and 24 kilometres south east of Dysart, in the Bowen Basin region of Queensland, is currently closed but it is believed it may reopen in 2015, if economic conditions are favourable at the time.

Norwich Park Mine was Closed in 2012

The Norwich Park coal mine was closed in May, 2012, because of economic reasons, despite it having one of the largest coal reserves in the world and a production rate, at the time of closure, of almost six million tonnes of coal a year. The closure of the mine by BMA (BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance) effecively put its workforce of 340 workers and contractors out of work, although the company stated it would relocate most of the redundant workers to some of its other mines that remained operational in the area. The reasons stated by BMA for the closure of its Norwich Park mining operation was; weak output due to flooding problems, high costs, and low coal prices.

Norwich Park Mine Opened in 1979 by BMA

The Norwich Park open cut coking coal mine commenced operations under the management of BMA in 1979 using dragline, truck and shovel mining methods. Run-of mine (ROM) coal produced at Norwich Park was taken directly to the on-site coal preparation plant after which it was railed 256 kilometres to the Hay Point Port, near Mackay. From here it was distributed to Australian and and overseas customers. The mine, that is situated in a primarily grazing area, was a major contributor to the economic survival of the nearby town of Dysart, where most of the mine workers resided with their families. The mine had been in continuous production of 32 years up to the time of its closure in 2012.

Norwich Park Mine Used Traditional Open cut Mining Methods

Open cut pits at the Norwich Park coal mine require the clearing of all vegetation, the removal and replacement of topsoil and stockpiling of overburden, as well as the mining of the coal. After the coal has been mined all disturbed areas are completely rehabilitated. Mine infrastructure at the Norwich Park Industrial Area, consists of the coal preparation plant, water dams and a rail load out facility. Raw water used at the mine is delivered to the site via the Bingegang water pipe line and is sourced from the Bingegang Weir on the Mackenzie River.

No Official Announcement From BMA Regarding Norwich Park Mining Future

BMA has yet to officially announce its intentions to reopen the Norwich Park coal mine, although it is claimed by some sources that the company is readying to reopen the operation, if it can hire a workforce at a lower cost to that which it was paying at the time of closure. The fear among unemployed mine workers living at nearby Dysart is that this new workforce might be sourced from a fly-in-fly-out workforce at a lower cost than was previously the case.


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