Name of the Project
Broadmeadow East (BME) and Isaac River coal projects.

Location
The Broadmeadow East project is situated about 185 km south-west of Mackay, Queensland, and 25 km north-east of the major regional township of Moranbah in the central Bowen basin, in Australia.

The Isaac River project, in the central Bowen basin, is about 30 km to the east of Moranbah, in Central Queensland, Australia.

Project Owner/s
Bowen Coking Coal.

Project Description
The BME and Isaac River coal projects form part of Bowen Coking Coal’s greater Burton Complex.

The BME project has resources of 33-million tonnes, of which 10.6-million tonnes are in the measured and indicated categories. Isaac River has resources of 8.7-million tonnes, of which 8.3-million tonnes are in the measured and indicated categories.

The coal at BME is flexible to allow for the production of a primary coking coal product of either high quality (7.5% ash, up to CSN 7.5) or high yield (9.2% ash, CSN 4.5). In both these cases, the secondary energy coal created from the primary coking coal discard has a calorific value of more than 6 500 kcal/kg, which is also a sought-after product for the export coal markets.

The results of the first-stage independent scoping studies on the BME and Isaac River coal projects have shown a run-of-mine (RoM) production target of 800 000 t/y to 1.1-million tonnes a year over a five- to seven-year life-of-mine (LoM) for BME, and 400 000 t/y to 600 000 t/y over a four- to five-year LoM for Isaac River.  

Potential Job Creation
The Isaac River mine project is expected to create 200 jobs at steady state.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
The BME project is expected to cost from A$6-million to A$8-million, and the Isaac River project from A$14-million to A$17-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Bowen Coking Coal has announced plans to divest of its Broadmeadow East mine to the Burton-Lenton joint venture (BLJV), in which the company holds a 90% interest.

Bowen will sell a 10% interest in the Broadmeadow East mine to JV partner MPC Lenton, and a 90% interest to its own subsidiary New Lenton Coal.

In return for its 10% interest, MPC Lenton will pay A$13-million in cash on completion of the sale, as well as an acquisition royalty of A$2.10 for each RoM tonne of MPC’s 10% share of production from the mine, on a quarterly basis, from May 2023 to December 2026, provided that the defined weighted average coal price index exceeded a threshold.

MPC will also pay A$20-million into the BLJV account for its future contributions. Once this A$20-million has been exhausted by the BLJV expenditure, New Lenton Coal will be solely responsible for the next A$180-million of expenditure, after which the JV expenditure will be funded in accordance with the participating interest.

If underground mining is conducted in future at Broadmeadow East, MPC will pay New Lenton Coal an underground royalty of A$5 per RoM tonne, on a quarterly basis for its share of production, providing that its share of the revenue is at least A$5/t in that quarter.

“Streamlining of the ownership structure will allow the business a degree of optionality when blending coal to produce targeted coal quality outputs for specific markets, and reduce operational complexity associated with processing coal mined from the Burton and Broadmeadow East pits,” Bowen Coking Coal CEO Mark Ruston has said.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Bowen Coking Coal, tel +61 7 3191 8413 or email info@bowencokingcoal.com.