Werris creek

The raw coal mined at the Werris Creek open pit mine is recovered by use of trucks and excavators at the rate of 2.5 million tonnes a year for the export market by mine owner, Whitehaven Coal Limited.

The Werris Creek Mine Workforce of 70 Personnel Produce raw Coal for the Export Market
The Werris Creek Mine, which is located near Tamworth in New South
Wales, has a workforce of about 70 personnel and produces coal with a low to medium ash content, low phosphorus and low sulphur as well as thermal coal and medium to high volatile PCI (pulverised coal injection) coal. The mine is operated by Werris Creek Coal Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Whitehaven Coal Limited.

Coal From Werris Creek Mine Shipped out of Newcastle
The raw coal mined at Werris Creek is is transported directly from the mine site to the port at Newcastle by rail from where it is exported to the company's various overseas customers. During the September quarter of of 2011 the government of New South Wales gave the approval for Whitehaven Coal Limited to extend the Werris Creek Mine, this has allowed coal production to be lifted to 2.5 million tonnes a year for the next 20 years.

Merger Produces the Largest Independent Coal Company in Australia
In 2012 Whitehaven Coal Limited merged with Aston Resources, a Nathan Tinkler mining company, at the same time it announced the new merged body was to acquire 100 percent of Boardwalk Resources. These moves created the largest independent coal company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange with a capitalisation of over five billion dollars.

Production at Werris Creek Mine Increases Despite set Back
The Werris Creek coal mine suffered a set back in late December 2011 when the New South Wales Government ordered all activity at the mine to cease because of a safety concern. The mine was effectively closed for four days. However, despite this set back and falling sales, the mine still managed to lift production by two percent for the quarter. The Werris Creek mine reported a production rate of 1.11 million tonnes for the quarter whereas it had only produced 1.09 tonnes for the same quarter the year before. It also reported production for the first half of the 2011/12 financial year to be 2.46 million tonnes an increase of 13 percent for the same period of the 2010/11 financial year.

Marshall Mining and Earthmoving got the Werris Creek Mine Moving
In March 2007 Werris Creek Coal Pty Ltd awarded a contract to Marshall Mining and Earthmoving, a subsidiary of John Holland mining division, to provide a complete mining service that included mine design and all drilling and blasting requirements, removal of overburden and the undertaking of coal mining at the Werris Creek mine site. The contract required Marshall Mining and Earthmoving to pay particular attention to the technicality of recovering clean coal as the coal was not going to be washed before being railed to Newcastle for exporting overseas as raw coal.

It was this contract that saw the beginning of a new coal mine that today produces an average of 2.5 million tonnes of raw coal annually and is expected to do so for the next 20 years.
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