Nestled in the Newcastle coalfield on the southern shore of Lake Macquarie, Chain Valley is a room-and-pillar underground mine with stable domestic sales and a growing export customer base. Operating at capacity, the mine can produce up to 1 million tons (0.91 million tonnes) of thermal coal annually. The mine's coal is screened, crushed and sized to meet the specifications of export customers and the neighboring Delta Electricity Vales Point power station. Its export coal is shipped through the Port of Newcastle.

 

Enhancements to longwall and surface equipment have increased productivity 25 percent at Metropolitan underground mine. Based in the Southern Coalfields of New South Wales, the Metropolitan Mine is ramping up to produce 2 million tons (1.4 million tonnes) of hard and semi-hard coking coal.

 

About 90 percent of Metropolitan's coal is exported through Port Kembla to major steel manufacturers and industrial consumers in Japan, India, Brazil and Germany. The remaining coking coal is trucked to domestic steel producers.

 

Located in the heart of the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, the Wambo Complex includes one of Peabody Energy's most productive surface operations and its newly commissioned underground longwall mine. Operating at capacity, the complex can produce up to 7 million tons (6.4 million tonnes) of thermal and low-ash, semi-soft coking coal.

 

Wambo surface mine uses truck-and-shovel methods to produce high quality coal with wide market acceptance among major Japanese power utilities.

 

Equipped with a state-of-the-art longwall, the North Wambo underground operation is ramping up to produce an additional 3 million tons of thermal and coking coal. The mine is also doubling the size of an adjacent preparation plant and introducing new rail load-out, in-pit conveyor and blending systems.

 

Coal from the Complex is exported to Japanese utilities and international coal traders.

 

 

The Wilpinjong surface mine accesses the Ulan Seam, which has yielded consistently high quality coal for 30 years in the Western Hunter River Valley of New South Wales. The mine is ramping up to produce 9 million tons (8.2 million tonnes) by 2011.

 

A preparation plant washes approximately 30 percent of the mine's coal to meet customer requirements. Coal from Wilpinjong fuels Macquarie Generation's nearby Bayswater and Liddell power stations as part of a nearly 20-year coal supply contract. The mine's coal is also exported through the Port of Newcastle to customers in Asia.