Rocglen

The Rocglen open cut coal mine near Gunnedah in New South Wales is operated by Whitehaven Coal Mining Pty Ltd (WCMPL) on behalf of the owner, Whitehaven Coal Limited (WCL). The mine is situated on Wean Road, 28 kilometres north of the town of Gunnedah. It 's production of low phosphorus, low sulphur, medium to high ash thermal coal for the export market, began in late 2008.

Mining at the Rocglen Open Cut Coal Mine Assured Until 2016
The Rocglen Mine has a run of mine (ROM) production rate of 1.2 million tonnes a year from a coal reserve sufficient to keep the mine in full production until 2016. Coal production commenced at the Rocglen Mine in 2008, soon after the mining lease was granted and construction began on stripping the overburden and building the necessary infrastructure.

Coal Production at the Rocglen Mine Limited to a Maximum of 1.5 Million Tonnes a Year
The Rocglem Mine approval allows for the mining of 18 million tonnes of ROM coal at a rate of no more than 1.5 million tonnes a year. This included the crushing and screening of the ROM coal at the mine site before it is transported to the Whitehaven Siding CHPP (coal handling and preparation plant), near Gunnedah. The approval allows for a land area of 115 hectares to be disturbed during the open cut mining activity taking place at the site.

Rocglen Coal Exported for Power Generation Purposes
All coal produced at the Rocglen open cut operation is exported for use by power generation or heating industries in Asian countries. The coal is sold either raw or washed and sized to no more than 50mm. It is described as being a high volatility coal which will produce a medium sulphur thermal or PCI grade coal with ash percentages as low as 10 percent (low ash PCI) to as high as 25 percent (high ash thermal).

Rocglen Expansion Approved in 2011
In late 2011 the New South Wales Government approved Whitehaven Coal's application to expand the Rocglen open cut mining operation. The application for the expansion was made to allow the open pit to access an extra five million tonnes of coal. It also asked for an increase to be made to the size of the mines northern emplacement to allow it accommodate a further 12 million bcm (bank cubic metres) of overburden. The approval also allowed for relocation on mining infrastructure as it became necessary, as well as some of the coal being produced at the Rocglen Mine being transported to Whitehaven's Canyon site for stockpiling, crushing and dispatching for domestic use.

Low Coal Prices Force Employment Cuts at the Rocglen Mine
The continuing high value of the Australian dollar, when compared to the American dollar, along with continuing low world prices for thermal coal that has been worrying Whitehaven Coal Limited for some time, came to a head in March 2013 when the company laid off some of its Rocglen employees. The cuts were made along with other cost cutting initiatives such as reduced stripping ratios, to ensure the mine remained viable. Whitehaven also cut its truck haulage fleet in half at the same time as part of its lowering of cost overheads.
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