PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Isaac Plains East coal mine, in Queensland, is expected to start production in July this year.
Coal miner Stanmore Coal has awarded project house NRW Holdings subsidiary Golding Contractors a A$93-million contract to start production at Isaac Plains East, with the scope of the contract including land clearance, drill and blast work, coal mining and mine rehabilitation.
The Isaac Plains East project provides a seven-year mine life extension to the current Isaac Plains operation, leveraging off existing infrastructure from the Isaac Plains operation, which Stanmore said would result in minimal risk and a low capital cost mine life extension.
The planned opencut mining operation would be similar to the operations at the existing Isaac Plains mine, and new infrastructure would be limited to haul and access roads, run-of-mine stockpile areas, and other minimal infrastructure such as stormwater drains, pit water pipelines and sediment control works.
Stanmore was issued with an environmental authority in January this year.