Coal in Australia

Coal is mined in every state of Australia. The largest black coal resources occur mainly in Queensland and New South Wales.[1] About 70% of coal mined in Australia is exported, mostly to eastern Asia,[2] and of the balance most is used in electricity generation. Coal production in Australia increased 13.6% between 2005 and 2010 and 5.3% between 2009 and 2010.[3] In 2016, Australia was the biggest net exporter of coal, with 32% of global exports (389 Mt out of 1,213 Mt total), and was the fourth-highest producer with 6.9% of global production (503 Mt out of 7,269 Mt total). 77% of production was exported (389 Mt out of 503 Mt total).[4]

Australian Energy resources and major export ports as of 2008

Full-time employment in coal mining since 1984 (thousands of people)

Australian coal production (red) and exports (black), 1980–2012

Coal mining in Australia has been criticized by members of the environmental movement,[5][6] due to carbon dioxide emissions during combustion. This criticism is primarily directed at thermal coal, for its connection to coal-fired power stations as a major source of carbon dioxide emissions, and the link to climate change and the effects of global warming on Australia.[7] The burning of coal for electricity produces 29% of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions, based on 2013-2014 Clean Energy Regulator data.[8]

The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, which followed the draft report in the Garnaut Climate Change Review, placed a price on carbon emissions through a reducing cap and trade emissions trading scheme and incentivised against carbon pollution temporarily, before it was revoked from 1 July 2014 onwards.

Forms of coal

Australian coal is either high-quality bituminous coal (black coal) or lower-quality lignite (brown coal).[9]

Bituminous coal is mined in Queensland and New South Wales, and is used for both domestic power generation and for export. It is mined underground or open-cut before being transported by rail to power stations or export shipping terminals.[10][11] Bituminous coal was also once transported to other Australian states for power generation and industrial boilers.

Lignite is mined in Victoria and South Australia,[12] and is of lower quality due to a lower thermal value largely caused by a high water content.[13] Ash content varies significantly but some Australian lignite have relatively low ash content.[14] As a result, Victoria adopted German power station and briquette technology in the 1920s to utilise the lignite reserves of the Latrobe Valley. In 2013 coal from three open cut lignite coal mines in Victoria is used for baseload power generation.[12]

History

Australian coal was first discovered in New South Wales by shipwreck survivors in August 1797, at Coalcliff, north of Wollongong. George Bass discovered coal soon after in the cliffs at Newcastle off of Point Solander.[15][16]

Production, exports and reserves

Australian coal and coke quarterly exports ($Millions) since 1960

In 2008/09, 487 million tonnes of coal was mined, and 261 million tonnes was exported.[17]

In 2009, Australia was the fourth-highest coal producer in the world, producing 335 megatonnes (Mt) of anthracite and 64 Mt of lignite.[18] Australia was the biggest anthracite exporter, with 31% of global exports (262 Mt out of 836 Mt total). 78% of 2009 anthracite production was exported (262 Mt out of 335 Mt total). Australia's global anthracite export share was 14% of all production (836 Mt out of 5,990 Mt total).[19]

In 2011, coal exports were Australia's second-largest source of export income, after iron ore exports.[20] In 2011, coal exports were worth A$47 billion Australian dollars, or US$47.8 billion, with US$15.6 billion coming from exports of thermal coal for power stations.[20] Coking coal generated A$22.4 billion of export revenue in 2012/13 financial year with thermal coal bringing in A$16.1 billion during the same period.[21]

According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences in 2011 the economically demonstrated reserves to production ratios for bituminous coal and lignite in Australia are 111 years and 539 years respectively. However, these figures do not account for growth in production.[22] Bituminous coal exports from Australia have been growing at a rate of 5% (on average during the last 20 years). If this rate of growth would-be maintained to extinction all current economically demonstrated black coal in the country would be depleted in under 40 years. However, continued growth at that rate is unlikely to occur for such a long period, and this estimate does not reflect growth in the demonstrated resource. Explorations in the last decade has resulted in a significant increase in inferred coal resources which are now almost double the economically demonstrated resource.[23]

In 2010–11, Australia was the fifth largest producer of coal, and by proportion exported, and was the second largest exporter of coal in the world,[24] with most of the exports going to Japan. Total production of bituminous coal in Australia was 405 million tonnes (Mt.), down from 471 Mt. in 2009–10. The drop was largely as a result of the Queensland floods of January 2011 where production declined from an expected 200 Mt. to 163 Mt.[25]

In 2013/14, 430.9 million tonnes of coal was mined, of which 375.1 million tonnes was exported.[26] Coal provides fuel for about 69% of electricity production in Australia.[24] The Latrobe Valley in Victoria produced 98.5% of Australia's total brown coal production of 57.8 Mt, down from 66.7 Mt in 2001–2, none of which was exported.

In 2013, Australia was the world's fifth-largest coal producer, after China, the United States, India, and Indonesia. However, in terms of proportion of production exported, Australia was the world's second largest coal exporter, with exports accounting for roughly 73% of coal production. Indonesia exports about 87% of its coal production.[24]

In 2016, Australia was the biggest net exporter of coal, with 32% of global exports (389 Mt out of 1,213 Mt total). It was still the fourth-highest producer with 6.9% of global production (503 Mt out of 7,269 Mt total). 77% of production was exported (389 Mt out of 503 Mt total).[4]

Major mines

See also: List of mines in Australia § Coal

The following table lists the major Australian Coal mines.[27]

Mine	State	Location	Ultimate owner	Coordinates	Type of coal	Million tons mined pa	Million tons exported pa	Major buyers	Major method
Anglesea	VIC	Anglesea	Alcoa of Australia	38°23′42″S 144°09′58″E	Lignite	?	nil	Anglesea Power Station	Open Cut
Beltana	NSW	Singleton	Xstrata	32°39′22″S 151°07′16″E	Thermal	7.6	?	?	Underground
Bengalla	NSW	Muswellbrook	Coal and Allied	32°19′24″S 150°51′29″E	Thermal	?	?	?	Open Cut
Callide	QLD	Callide (Biloela)	Batchfire	24°19′38″S 150°37′04″E	Thermal	8.5	?	?	Open Cut
Capcoal	QLD	Middlemount	Anglo American	22°57′50″S 148°33′00″E	Hard Coking Coal & PCI	7	?	?	Open Cut & Underground
Dawson	QLD	Dawson (Moura)	Anglo Coal	24°17′46″S 151°06′47″E	Soft Coking & Thermal	7	?	?	Open Cut
Drayton	NSW	Hunter Valley	Anglo Coal	32°20′46″S 150°54′40″E	Soft Coking & Thermal	7	?	?	Open Cut
Duania	QLD	Moranbah	BMA	22°02′34″S 148°17′21″E	Hard Coking Coal & PCI	4	?	?	Open Cut
Broadmeadows	QLD	Moranbah	BMA	21°44′35″S 147°58′15″E	Hard Coking Coal	4	?	?	Underground
Blackwater	QLD	Blackwater	BMA	23°42′36″S 147°33′00″E	Thermal/Coking	13	?	?	Open Cut
Blair Athol	QLD	Clermont	TerraCom[28]	22°41′28″S 147°31′59″E	Thermal	2.7	?	?	Open Cut
Bulga Coal	NSW	Singleton	Oakbridge Group (Managed by Xstrata Coal)	32°39′S 151°04′E	Thermal/Coking	10.8	all	Japan, Nippon Steel, Nippon Oil	Open Cut
Burton	QLD	Nebo	Peabody Energy Australia	21°34′12″S 148°10′59″E	Thermal/Coking	4	?	?	Open Cut
Collinsville	QLD	Collinsville	Xstrata	20°29′31″S 147°47′02″E	Thermal/Coking	5	?	?	Open Cut
Coppabella	QLD	Coppabella	Peabody Energy Australia	21°50′56″S 148°25′59″E	?	7	?	?	Open Cut
Curragh	QLD	Blackwater	Wesfarmers	23°28′30″S 148°51′43″E	Thermal/Coking	7	?	?	Open Cut
Goonyella/Riverside	QLD	Moranbah	BMA	21°43′48″S 147°58′44″E	Hard Coking Coal	11	?	?	Open Cut/Underground
Griffin Coal	WA	Collie	LANCO Infratech	33°21′32″S 116°09′11″E	Bituminous	5	nil	Bluewaters Power, Synergy Power	Open Cut
Grosvenor Mine	QLD	Moranbah	Anglo American	21°58′31″S 148°00′36″E	Hard Coaking Coal	?	?	?	Underground
Hail Creek	QLD	Nebo	Glencore	21°29′06″S 148°22′05″E	Hard Coking Coal	4.5	all	?	Open Cut
Jellinbah	QLD	Bluff	Jellinbah Group	23°30′15″S 148°52′59″E	PCI and Soft Coking	4.6	4.6	Various steelmakers - Japan, China, India and Brazil	Open Cut
Lake Vermont	QLD	Dysart	Jellinbah Group	22°26′58″S 148°25′21″E	Hard Coking Coal and PCI	8.0	8.0	Various steelmakers - Japan, China, India and Brazil	Open Cut
Loy Yang	VIC	Traralgon	Loy Yang Power	38°15′07″S 146°34′26″E	Lignite	?	nil	Loy Yang Power Station	Open Cut
Moorvale	QLD	Moranbah	Peabody Energy Australia	21°59′24″S 148°21′14″E	Thermal/PCI	?	?	?	Open Cut
Mount Arthur Coal (MAC)	NSW	Muswellbrook	BHP Billiton	32°20′01″S 151°52′36″E	Thermal	15	12	?	Open Cut
Mount Thorley Warkworth (MTW)	NSW	Singleton	Coal & Allied	32°37′30″S 151°05′24″E	Thermal/Coking	?	?	?	Open Cut
Moranbah North	QLD	Moranbah	Anglo American	21°52′26″S 147°57′50″E	Hard Coking Coal	4.5	?	?	Underground
Morwell	VIC	Morwell	Engie Energy International	38°16′22″S 146°23′30″E	Lignite	20	nil	Hazelwood Power Station, Energy Brix	Open Cut
Norwich Park	QLD	Dysart	BMA	22°46′48″S 148°28′48″E	Soft Coking Coal	6	all	?	Open Cut
Newlands	QLD	Glenden	Xstrata	21°12′43″S 147°53′24″E	Thermal/Coking	12	?	?	Open Cut & Underground
Peak Downs	QLD	Moranbah	BMA	22°14′13″S 148°00′43″E	Hard Coking Coal	13	all	?	Open Cut
Poitrel	QLD	Moranbah	BMC	22°02′50″S 148°15′06″E	Hard Coking Coal & PCI	4	?	?	Open Cut
Saraji	QLD	Dysart	BMA	22°21′43″S 148°17′24″E	Hard Coking Coal	7.5	all	?	Open Cut
South Walker Creek	QLD	Moranbah	BMC	21°44′51″S 148°26′03″E	Hard Coking Coal & PCI	5	?	?	Open Cut
Ulan	NSW	Ulan via Mudgee	Xstrata	32°14′38″S 149°44′56″E	Thermal	5	?	?	Open Cut & Underground
Wesfarmers Premier Coal	WA	Collie	Wesfarmers	33°24′40″S 116°14′20″E	Bituminous	3.5	nil	Synergy Power	Open Cut
Yallourn	VIC	Yallourn	EnergyAustralia	38°10′42″S 146°20′21″E	Lignite	?	nil	Yallourn Power Station	Open Cut

Major export markets for Australian coal

Major Export Markets For Australian Coal (2014)[29]

Country/Area	Million Tons Coking	Million Tons Steaming	Million Tons Total	Rank	% of exports
Japan	42.0	77.7	119.7	1	30.9
China	46.3	47.1	93.4	2	24.1
Korea (ROK)	20.4	34.4	54.8	3	14.1
India	40.1	6.7	46.8	4	12.1
Other	28.2	14.5	42.7	5	11.0
Taiwan	9.4	20.5	29.9	6	7.7

Major coal export ports

The Port of Newcastle, New South Wales, is the world's largest and most efficient coal handling operation through its two terminals: Carrington and Kooragang. Australia has nine major coal-export ports,[30] including:

Major Australian Coal Export Ports

Port	State	Million Tons 2009	Million Tons 2008
Newcastle[31]	NSW	92.8	91.4
Hay Point[32]	QLD	82.4	80.4
Gladstone[33]	QLD	56.2	54.1
Abbot Point[32]	QLD	14.4	12.5
Port Kembla[34]	NSW	13.7	13.3
Brisbane[33]	QLD	6.3	5.5
Total		265.8	257.2

Major coal mining companies

Main article: Coal companies of Australia

Environmental impacts

September 2019 climate strike in Tumbarumba, Australia

The Australian community is understandably concerned about any mining activity that could place private or public property or valuable landscapes at risk.[35] The coal industry claims however that extensive rehabilitation of areas mined helps to ensure that land capability, after coal mining, meets agreed and appropriate standards.[36]

Coal is the principal fossil fuel used in power generation not only in Australia but in many other countries. Links between coal mining, coal burning, and climate change are being discussed widely in Australia.[37][38]

On 27 November 2006 the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales judge Justice Nicola Pain made the decision to set aside the Director-General's acceptance of the Environmental Assessment for the Anvil Hill coal mine,[39] on the grounds that it did not include a comprehensive greenhouse gas assessment, even though the proposed mining of coal was for export. However, on 7 June 2007 the planning minister for NSW Frank Sartor reversed this decision and approved the mine, attaching a list of 80 conditions to the mines operation including conservation offsets.[40]

Environmental regulation of coal mining

Commonwealth law

The main Commonwealth environmental laws potentially applicable to coal mining are the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) and the Clean Energy Act 2011. The EPBC Act is triggered if a proposed action is likely to have a significant impact on a matter of national environmental significance, for example federally listed threatened species.

State laws

New South Wales

Relevant laws are mining law, land use planning law, biodiversity law and water law.

Pollution law

Coal mining requires a pollution control ('environment protection') licence under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW) if it exceeds the following thresholds set out in Schedule 1 of the Act: if it is mining, processing or handling of coal (including tailings and chitter) at underground mines or open cut mines and (a) it has a capacity to produce more than 500 tonnes of coal per day, or (b) it has disturbed, is disturbing or will disturb a total surface area of more than 4 hectares of land by: (i) clearing or excavating, or (ii) constructing dams, ponds, drains, roads, railways or conveyors, or (iii) storing or depositing overburden or coal (including tailings and chitter).[41]

Queensland

In March, 2020, the Queensland Resources Council introduced safety protocols to promote the health of coal mine workers amidst the international spread of COVID-19. These included improvements to social distancing of workers, disallowing visitors from the public to enter the sites and checking the temperature of workers at mine site entries.[42]

Clean coal technologies

Main article: Carbon capture and storage in Australia

The Federal Government has, as part of its pledge to mitigate global warming,[43] committed A$100 million to commission a climate change-fighting "clean coal" and carbon sequestration research institute to make Australia a leader in this emerging technology. As of 2014 carbon sequestration technology was not expected to be commercially viable for at least 5 to 10 years,[44] but the Federal Labor government argues that it is a vital technology given Australia's reliance on coal-fired electricity.[45] The merits of "clean coal" have been highly disputed by some technical experts[46] and environment awareness groups.[47]

See also

• Carbon capture and storage in Australia
• Coal companies of Australia
• Coal phase out
• Greenhouse Mafia
• Hunter Valley Coal Chain
• List of coal fired power stations in Australia
• Mining in Australia
• Mitigation of global warming in Australia
• Coastal coal-carrying trade of New South Wales

References

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External links

• "Illawarra Coal" - An unofficial history of coal mining in the Illawarra
• Survey of Energy Resources 2007 for Australia