Tarrawonga

The Tarrawonga Mine is a black coal open cut mining operation located 42 kilometres from Gunnedah and 15 kilometres from Boggabri in the Gunnedah Basin of New South Wales. The mine is owned and operated by Tarrawonga Coal Pty Ltd (TCPL), a joint venture organisation between Whitehaven Coal Mining Pty Ltd (70 percent) and Boggabri Coal Pty Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of Idemitsu Australia Resources Pty Ltd ( 30 percent).

Tarrawonga Open cut Coal Mine to Keep Producing Until 2029 because of Extensions
The Tarrawonga Coal Mine began mining coal in 2006 and began by producing two million tonnes a year of ROM (run-of-mine) coal for the thermal and PCI markets. It recently underwent an extension of its open cut operations that has increased production to three million tonnes of ROM coal annually. This extension has also increased the life of mine to 17 years from the start of 2013, which means it will be around at least until 2029.

The 2011 extension to the Tarrawonga Mine included the following:
- The minority joint venture partner Idemitsu finding capacity at the exporting port to handle its 30 percent share of the mines tonnage output. This move is to free up the capacity at the port of around 0.8 million tonnes a year for Whitehaven into the future.
- Tenement ownership restructuring within the expanded area to make certain both joint partners, Whitehaven and Idemitsu, continue to enjoy their respective percentage share in the venture.
- The construction of a Boggabri CHPP and a rail spur line to handle transport needs and coal processing requirements for both joint venture partners that includes tolling arrangements.

Both joint venture partners became the recipients of considerable economic benefits from the changes, particularly from the better utilisation of the Boggabri CHPP and its rail loading facility as the move has freed up previous arrangements with the Gunnedah CHPP and its rail loading infrastructure.

Tarrawonga Mine Produces Quality Coal for the Export Market
The Tarrawonga Mine produces a mix of medium to high volatile PCI semi soft export quality thermal and coking coal containing low phosphorus, low sulphur and low ash content. The long term average mix contains around 80 percent PCI and semi soft coking coal.

Tarrawonga Open cut Mine Uses 305 Hectares of Former Grazing Land
The Tarrawonga open cut operation will eventually require the disturbing of about 305 hectares of land to enable it to access all its coal resources. This land will be used for open cut mining of coal, disposing of the overburden, stockpiling and coal processing, general mine infrastructure, a transport route and a number of soil management and water facilities. Before mining commenced at the site it was used for grazing that consisted of both native vegetation and open grassland.

Whitehaven Coal is now the Largest Independent Coal Company in Australia
The majority owner of the Tarrawonga Mine, Whitehaven Coal, has merged with Nathan Tinkler's Aston Resources and the merged identity then went ahead and acquired another Tinkler coal mining company, Boardwalk Resources. These moves have made Whitehaven Coal the largest independent coal company in Australia.
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