Sedgman wins contract for QCoal’s $1.76bn Byerwen mine in Australia

Coal mining company QCoal has awarded a contract to Sedgman to design and construct a tailings dewatering facility at the $1.76bn Byerwen coal mine in central Queensland, Australia.

The Byerwen open-cut coal mine is located around 20km west of Glenden in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. It is being developed by Byerwen Coal, which is a joint venture between QCoal and JFE Steel Australia.

Under the contract, CIMIC Group’s minerals processing company Sedgman will work to reduce the operational risks and power usage at the mine.

It will also look to improve water recovery and management of dewatering chemicals at the mine.

Sedgman managing director Grant Fraser said: “We are pleased to continue working with QCoal with a key focus on reducing impacts and undertaking environmentally responsible practices. The tailings dewatering contract at Byerwen is a great opportunity to achieve joint goals in ESG, an important focus for the industry.”

Sedgman plans to commence construction work for the Byerwen mine this month. The project is expected to complete in mid-2022.

Production from the Byerwen Mine is shipped to Abbot Point Coal Terminal in Queensland for exports.

Being developed in phases, the project is estimated to extract up to 15 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of run-of-mine coal and produce 10Mtpa of export-quality coal.

Mitsubishi to take 30% stake in Glencore’s bauxite project in Australia

Japanese trading firm Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) has marked its debut investment in the mining of bauxite by agreeing to acquire a 30% stake in Glencore’s Aurukun Bauxite Project in Australia.

Mining giant Glencore is currently assessing the feasibility of developing the bauxite mine near Aurukun on the west coast of Cape York in Far North Queensland.

As per the proposed plan, the mine is expected to produce up to eight million dry tonnes of washed and screened bauxite, a raw material of aluminium, during its operational life of more than 20 years.

In a statement, Mitsubishi said: “Through the acquisition and development of the Project together with other business activities, MC will continuously secure competitive assets that contribute to a stable, global supply of a resource, and also to strive for sustainable growth by simultaneously generating economic, societal, and environmental values.”

Mitsubishi, together with Glencore, plans to conclude the feasibility studies and make A final investment decision on the mine development in 2022.

The transaction awaits the approval of the Queensland Government.

Upon completion, Mitsubishi Development, a wholly owned subsidiary of MC, will hold a 30% stake in the mine.

Australian Indigenous group to rate mining firms on ESG performance

Western Australian group Wintawari Guruma Aboriginal Corp (WGAC) has announced its plans to publish a scorecard rating Western Australia miners on how well they comply with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards.

The WGAC, which represents the Eastern Guruma area in the iron ore-rich Pilbara region, hopes the idea will emphasise the importance of ESG factors for investors and the public.

The development follows last year’s destruction of two ancient rock shelters at the 46, 000-year-old Aboriginal Juukan Gorge by Rio Tinto.

WGAC director Tony Bevan told Reuters: “It’s not easy for people to hear from the native title holders, so you tend to get just the mining company’s view of the world.”

The intent is for it to be a positive and proactive process.”

Bevan has also said that WGAC could help other indigenous groups develop similar scorecards as the company is open to speakING with miners about the metrics and rating process.

The scorecard will focus on five elements: heritage surveys, regulatory compliance, caring for the environment, relationships with Native Title Holders, and ESG reporting.

As part of the strategy, WGAC will assess companies’ performance for a year based on 34 questions, followed by publication of the results and providing feedback.

The biggest miners in the Eastern Guruma area, Fortescue and Rio Tinto, have already welcomed the initiative.

Fortescue told Reuters that a scorecard would also benefit from including training, employment and business development opportunities, feedback throughout the year, and a mechanism to address differences of opinion regarding subjective matters.

China to cap annual coal output at 4.1 billion tonnes by 2025

The China National Coal Association has announced that the country’s annual coal output will stand at no higher than 4.1 billion tonnes by the end of the 14th five-year plan period (2021-2025), after it climbed by 1.4% year-on-year to 3.9 billion tonnes in 2020.

As a China National Coal Association report revealed, the number of coal mines will be reduced to 4,000 by the end of 2025 from about 4,700 at the end of last year.

Apart from eliminating excess and outdated capacity, China will promote advanced capacity, restructuring coal product supplies, and coordinating coal production and sales.

In addition, more than 1,000 of the remaining mining sites will be equipped with smart mining technology and annual coal consumption will be kept to approximately 4.2 billion tonnes at the end of 2025, the report said.

As part of the updated strategy, mergers and acquisitions will be encouraged in efforts to eliminate backward coal production capacity in the next five years.

The coal industry will also accelerate the establishment of smart factories and digital workshops and boost research and development of unified smart equipment.

The industry will strive to increase the amount of market share by big coal companies and nurture new growth drivers by coordinating the development of upstream and downstream sectors, so that it progresses to achieve efficiency-based high-quality development.

On the other hand, China has built about 1,200 large and modern coal mines, each with an annual output capacity above 1.2 million tonnes.

The data shows that this represents about 80% of the country’s total coal output. Ten more super-large coal enterprises will also be established, each with an annual output of 100 million tonnes.

Fortescue, WAE partner on new battery electric haul truck

Australian iron ore firm Fortescue Metals Group has signed an agreement with Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) to build a zero-emission battery electric haul truck for mining operations.

The deal allows the partners to design, build, and test a battery system, which will have the ability to regenerate power as the truck travels downhill.

After the battery is built at WAE’s facility in Oxfordshire, UK, it will be shipped for integration into a 240-tonne prototype haul truck.

The haul truck will undergo performance testing at Fortescue’s mining operations in the Pilbara, Western Australia.

The company has integrated operations in the Pilbara, including the Chichester and Solomon mining hubs and the Western Hub, which is under development.

Fortescue said that the deal marks an important first step towards its mission to decarbonise its mining haul fleet.

Williams Advanced Engineering managing director Craig Wilson said: “We are delighted to be working with Fortescue on this pioneering project that will help enable their future decarbonisation strategy, contributing to a reduction of carbon emissions in the heavy-duty mining sector.”

The partners will also build a fast charging unit to support the full implementation of a battery-electric haulage fleet.

US Forest Service to withdraw environmental report for Resolution Copper project

The US Forest Service is set to withdraw an environmental report it had released earlier that paved way for a land swap for the Resolution Copper project located in Arizona.

The project is being developed by Resolution Copper Mining, a joint venture owned by Rio Tinto (55%) and BHP (45%).

In January 2021, the Forest Service released the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) and draft record of decision (ROD) for the copper project and land exchange involved for its development.

Since the documents were released, the agency said it received significant input from collaborators, partners, and the public, raising concerns over the project’s impact.

As a result, the agency has now been directed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to rescind the FEIS and ROD issued for the project.

The Resolution Copper project is planned to be developed on Oak Flat, which is considered to be a sacred site to various federally recognised tribes in the US Southwest.

In a press statement, USDA stated: “The recent Presidential Memorandum on tribal consultation and strengthening nation to nation relationships counsels in favour of ensuring the Forest Service has complied with the environmental, cultural, and archaeological analyses required.”

The USDA’s decision allows Forest Service to undertake a comprehensive review based on the input received on the project.