Wambo

The Wambo mining complex, that is located 30 kilometres west of Singleton in the Hunter Valley Region of New South Wales, produces pulverised coal injection (PCI) and thermal coal for the domestic and export market. It is majority owned by Peabody Energy Australia and is operated as an underground and open cut coal mine by mining contractor, Downer EDI Mining.

Peabody Acquired the Wambo Coal Complex in 2006
Peabody Energy Australia's wholly owned subsidiary Wambo Coal acquired the Wambo Mine Complex in 2006. It is one of Peabody's largest mines, with a workforce of almost 1,000 employees, including the contractor, Downer EDI Wambo Mine workforce, subcontractors and general contractors. In 2012 the Wambo open cut mine produced three million tonnes and the North Wambo underground mine produced 3.5 million tonnes of saleable black coal.

Coal First Mined at Wambo in 1962
The Wambo mining complex has been in operation since 1962, with the thermal coal being produced taken by rail to the port at Newcastle and the PCI coal railed to the company's domestic customers. Wambo coal exported out of Newcastle goes to customers in China, Korea, and Japan. It is shipped out of Newcastle by the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group and Port Waratah Coal Services facilities.

Open cut Mining Began at Wambo in the 1970's
Open cut mining began at the Wambo mining complex in the early 1970's and it has been operated by mining contractor Downer EDI since 2001. Underground mining began in the early 1970's which at that time included five different operations. This has since been reduced to the one underground mine currently operating at North Wambo that began producing coal in late 2005.

Peabody Energy is the largest Private Sector Miner in the World
Wambo Mine owner, Peabody Energy, is the largest private sector coal mining company in the world. It supplies both thermal and metallurgical coal products to its customers in 30 countries operating on six continents. It owns around nine billion tonnes of proven and probable coal reserves in 28 coal mining operations mainly in Australia and the United States.

Environmental Protection has a High Priority at the Wambo Mine
Peabody Energy Australia are committed to carrying out responsible environmental management at its Wambo mining complex, particularly rehabilitation management, having put in place aggressive rehabilitation targets. The main objective is to achieve sustainable final land use and stable landforms. This has special importance at the Wambo operation because of the mine being located adjacent to a national park.

The Wambo open cut mine uses the conventional truck and shovel method of open cut mining. The coal is extracted from four coal seams, the Whynot, Wambo, Redbank Creek and Whybrow coal seams. The North Wambo underground mine uses the long wall method of mining from the two metre thick Wambo coal seam with a 250 metre wide long wall face and a panel length of 3,600 metres.
Wambo has mining leases that cover an area of over 5,300 hectares that contain 202 million tonnes of coal that is available from the Bowfield, Arrowfield, Whynot, Redbank Creek, Whybrow and Wambo coal seams.
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