After 18 years in care and maintenance, the Dartbrook coal mine in the Hunter Valley is poised for a restart, Australian Pacific Coal (AQC) interim CEO Ayten Saridas announced on Monday.
The revival is made possible by a three-year, $60-million debt facility that joint venture partners AQC and Tetra Resources finalised with energy and commodity group Vitol Asia.
The debt facility, which was announced in November, will be used to cover forecast restart expenditure at Dartbrook through to first coal, including equipment acquisitions and completion of remediation work, as well as the acquisition of additional mining systems during ramp-up to achieve full capacity.
“Our ability to secure debt funding for Dartbrook during a period of high inflation and global tension is testament to the quality of the project, the vision and work ethic of the team of people bringing it back to market, and the commitment of our shareholders,” said Saridas.
She stated that AQC would now accelerate work on site and complete underground works, refurbish the coal handling and preparation plant and loadout facilities, and procure the continuous miners and additional mining equipment.
The schedule to first coal is under review and will be announced in AQC’s quarterly report later this month, Saridas said.