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2,400 personnel

The Peak Downs mine is a large open-cut coal mine located in the Bowen Basin, 31 kilometres south-east of Moranbah, Queensland, Australia. Owned by a 50:50 joint venture between BHP and Mitsubishi Development and operated by BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), it has been in operation since 1972, producing high-quality hard coking coal from the Moranbah Coal Measures for steel manufacturing.

The mine produced 11.8 million tonnes in the 2019 financial year and 4.295 million tonnes in 2022.

Run-of-mine coal is processed at an on-site coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP). Approximately 2.5 million tonnes of coal per year are also moved via an 11-kilometre overland conveyor to the CHPP at the nearby Caval Ridge mine. The processed coal is transported by rail to BMA's Hay Point Coal Terminal, among others, for export.

The operation uses draglines, trucks, and shovels for overburden removal and coal extraction. The mining fleet includes a Marion 8050 dragline, Liebherr 996B and 9800 excavators, Hitachi EX5600 excavators, and Caterpillar 793, 797, 797f and Liebherr T 282 C haul trucks.

The Peak Downs Mine Continuation Project is proposed to extend the mine's life by approximately 93 years, expanding the open-cut footprint and continuing to produce up to 18 million tonnes of product coal annually. The project, with an estimated investment of $2 billion, is in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) phase with the Queensland Government, with a declared lapse date of 30 June 2026. It is expected to support 2,400 operational jobs and create 160 construction jobs.

Macmahon employs 545 people on site, with other reports indicating over 800 people employed by the mining contractor. During peak construction and initial operations, the workforce exceeded 870 people.

The Byerwen Coal Mine is an open-cut coal mine in Queensland, Australia, located approximately 20 kilometres west of Glenden in the Bowen Basin. It is operated by Byerwen Coal Pty Ltd, a joint venture between QCoal Group and JFE Steel of Japan. The mine produces hard coking coal for export, with thermal coal as a by-product.

The mine has a designed production capacity of up to 10 million tonnes of product coal per year. Production is set to increase from five to 10 million tonnes of hard coking coal annually.

The extracted coal is processed at two on-site coal handling and preparation plants, each with a capacity of 550 tonnes per hour. The processing includes a bypass crushing circuit and a train load-out facility. Processed coal is transported by rail to the Abbot Point Coal Terminal for export.

Mining is conducted using large excavators, trucks, and dozers.

A contract extension for the mining services provider, Macmahon Holdings Limited, is set to increase production from five to 10 million tonnes of hard coking coal annually. Macmahon secured a new three-year contract valued at $792 million in December 2025, with an option for a two-year extension.

The workforce comprises a mix of BMA employees and contractors, with quarterly worker numbers recorded at 2,087, 1,914, and 1,748. Mining services contractor BUMA Australia has provided services since 2022, with their contract extended to September 2027. Perenti Limited is also associated with the mine.

The Bowen Basin (Goonyella Riverside) mine, located in Queensland, Australia, is an operating open-cut and strip mining operation. It produces high-quality hard coking coal and is operated by BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), a joint venture between BHP and Mitsubishi Development. The Goonyella mine commenced in 1971 and merged with the Riverside mine in 1989.

In 2019, the mine produced 17.1 million tonnes of metallurgical coal. For the 2023 calendar year, coal production was 15.15 million tonnes. The mine achieved record production in the 2021 financial year.

Goonyella Riverside has two coal processing plants where run-of-mine coal is crushed to less than 50mm, then washed, sorted, and blended using dense medium separation and column flotation. The final product is transported via the Goonyella railway line to the Hay Point Coal Terminal for export.

The mine uses a conventional open-cut fleet including draglines, excavators, and haul trucks. It has transitioned to a fully autonomous haul truck fleet, with up to 86 Komatsu haul trucks expected in early 2022. Specific equipment includes Marion 8050, BE 1370, and BE 1350 draglines; Liebherr R 9800 and Terex O&K RH 170 excavators; P&H4100XPB and P&H4100A shovels; and Cat 994 front-end loaders. BUMA Australia operates three prime fleets, including 600t and 800t excavators and trucks, capable of moving 40 million bank cubic meters annually.

A major expansion project to increase annual coal production was formally withdrawn in August 2008. Current developments focus on optimisation and incremental improvements, such as the Goonyella Complex Optimisation Study. The transition to an autonomous haul fleet is a key component of ongoing development and efficiency improvements.

Approximately 140 people.

coal: 2744285 t

The processing involves crushing the coal to a 6-inch minus size before it is loaded into a silo. The coal is then transported from a loadout facility to the power station via a privately owned railway.

The mine utilises two Bucyrus Erie 2570-W draglines for removing overburden. The exposed coal is then handled by 993 loaders and Triple 7 coal haulers. The equipment fleet also includes four Cat D10T and one Cat D9T dozers for spoil levelling, dragline pad preparation, road construction, drainage ditches, cleaning coal, and ripping overburden.

In January 2025, the Government of Saskatchewan announced it was considering extending the life of the Poplar River Generating Station, which would in turn extend the life of the mine.

Active coal mining ceased in 2021, and the mine has moved into reclamation mode. Prairie Mines & Royalty ULC (PMRU) has submitted applications for the closure, decommissioning, and reclamation of the mine. Reclamation is anticipated to be finished by 2026.

coal: 1.1 Mt

A 59-megawatt solar farm and a 34-megawatt battery energy storage system, known as the Mannix Mine Solar & Battery Energy Storage System Project, has been proposed for the reclaimed mine site. The Alberta Utilities Commission approved the applications to construct and operate the project in April 2025. Construction is estimated to start in the third quarter of 2025, with commercial operation planned for the third quarter of 2026. The BIOSALIX project, a clean technology demonstration, is using municipal organic waste from Edmonton to replenish soil at the mine site to grow willow that can be used as a biomass feedstock for renewable energy.

Surface coal mining operations at the Genesee Mine concluded in December 2023. The site has now transitioned to focus on reclamation, final decommissioning, and closure activities. A portion of the site will remain active for the extraction of fly ash. The cessation of mining operations coincided with the conversion of the associated Genesee Generating Station to natural gas, which was completed in June 2024. Subbituminous coal production in Alberta effectively ended with the decommissioning of the Genesee mine in June 2024. Reclamation activities are underway, with a final Decommissioning and Land Reclamation Plan to be submitted to the Alberta Energy Regulator. The objectives of the reclamation are to protect the watershed, re-establish agricultural lands, and create wildlife habitat.

coal: 5.5 Mt

Approximately 300 United Mine Workers Association members and an additional 100 non-union staff reported in May 2019.

The Estevan Mine is an operating open-pit coal mine located in Saskatchewan, Canada, owned and operated by Westmoreland Mining LLC. Operations involve strip mining, supplying thermal coal (lignite) to Saskatchewan Power Corporation's Boundary Dam and Shand Generating Stations.

coal: 3131115 t

coal-handling facilities

draglines, trucks, shovels, coal-handling facilities

Potential extension to the mine's life due to consideration of refurbishing Boundary Dam Units 4, 5, and 6, and Poplar River Power Station, which may require investment in new equipment and machinery.

The reopening in 2021 was expected to restore 300 direct jobs and up to 750 indirect jobs. An earlier record mentioned 438 employees.

The Coal Valley Mine is a surface mine located in West Central Alberta, south of the Town of Edson. Mining is conducted using truck and shovel/loader and dragline methods. The mine was placed on care and maintenance in June 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and restarted production in the fourth quarter of 2021.

coal: 2.3 Mt

The mine includes a coal wash plant to process the run-of-mine coal. The process involves crushing, breaking, and sizing the coal before it undergoes density separation to clean the organic material from refuse. The plant has the capacity to wash 4 million tonnes of clean coal per year.

The mine utilises truck/shovel and dragline equipment.

Prairie Mines and Royalty applied to extend the Pit 26 site by 68 hectares. This expansion falls within the current Coal Valley Mine boundaries.

51 employees will be retained for the reclamation process.

The San Juan Mine ceased active coal production in September 2022 and is now in a state of reclamation. The mine, which began as a surface operation in 1973, later included underground mining.

coal: 1572266 t

Over 300

coal: 5978039 t

Coal is transported via a conveyor belt system to crushers. High-sulfur "waste coal" is sent by truck to the Rosebud Power Plant for combustion.

Mining methods include dragline and truck and shovel/loader. Equipment includes Marion 8050 and Marion 8200 draglines and a 4.2-mile long overland conveyor belt.

In August 2025, the U.S. Department of the Interior approved a mining plan modification for the Rosebud Mine, located in Rosebud and Treasure counties. This decision allows for the extraction of approximately 33.75 million tons of federal coal and extends the mine's operation. The expansion covers nearly 1,900 acres of new mining area. The mine has several active permit areas, including Area A, Area B, Area C, and Area F. As of December 2023, 582 acres had been disturbed in the Area F project area, with 8.5 million tons of coal produced from this area. An application for a fifth amendment (AM5) to the operating permit for Area B would increase the permit area by 9,108 acres to a total of 15,153 acres and allow for the extraction of an additional 42.9 million tons of coal.

2025: 215 workers (before March layoffs). 2024: 215 workers. 2023: 230 employees. 2019: 272 employees. 2017: 279 workers.

The mine is a 13,400-acre surface mine complex. Sub-bituminous coal for electrical generation and industrial uses. The coal is sourced from the Adaville and Frontier formations.

coal: 2.4 Mt

Coal is supplied to the adjacent Naughton Power Station via a 4,200 ft long overland conveyor. In 2015, the mine upgraded a drive system on an inclined conveyor.

4,200 ft long overland conveyor, inclined conveyor

A $30 million project to relocate a section of U.S. Highway 30 to access an additional 9 million tons of coal reserves was halted in September 2024. In April 2025, Kemmerer Operations LLC requested a permit modification to expand the capacity of three coal stockpiles.

approximately 250 jobs cut upon closure in late 2016 and early 2017

Mining operations at the Jewett Mine ceased permanently at the end of 2016 due to the adjacent Limestone Electric Generating Station terminating its lignite supply contract. The mine is now in a reclamation-only status, with activities expected to be completed by 2028. NRG is responsible for the reclamation of the 35,000-acre site.

coal: 6.3 Mt

large draglines, including three Marion 8200 models and a Marion 8750, supported by a bucketwheel excavator and standard earth-moving equipment such as front-end loaders, hydraulic excavators, haulers, and dozers

The Beulah Mine is a surface lignite mine located in Mercer County, North Dakota. Coal production concluded in early 2022 due to the retirement of the Heskett Station power plant. Reclamation of the mined land is expected to continue until 2026. The former mine site is being redeveloped by Talon Metals Corp. for a nickel and copper processing facility.

coal: 0.8 Mt

108 (as of April 2024)

The Absaloka Mine ceased production in April 2024 and is now under care and maintenance. This action followed the shipment of its final coal railcar on 3 April 2024, after its primary customer, the Sherburne County Generating Station (SHERCO), phased out its coal-fired units. The operator, Westmoreland Absaloka Mining LLC, a subsidiary of Westmoreland Mining LLC, has stated that a permanent closure is not imminent, and heavy equipment remains idle at the site. The mine is located in Big Horn County, Montana, approximately 30 miles east of Hardin.

coal: 2229591 t

dragline and truck and shovel/loader operations, heavy equipment

The quarry supplies raw materials to the Horsley Park brick plants. For instance, Plant 23 requires approximately 530,000 tonnes of clay/shale annually to produce up to 130 million bricks. An Environment Protection Licence for the broader site allows for the crushing, grinding or separating of up to two million tonnes of material annually.

No clay or shale processing occurs within the quarry itself; raw materials are used for the adjacent brick manufacturing plants. Extraction is conducted by scrapers for clay materials or by excavator and haul truck for shale and sandstone, with ripping by bulldozer as required. No blasting is performed.

scrapers, excavator, haul truck, bulldozer

A modification was approved in August 2022 for the Plant 2 facility to increase its operational throughput capacity from 80 million to 130 million standard brick equivalents per year by moving to a 24/7 continuous shift model. The new state-of-the-art Horsley Park Plant 2 was substantially completed in FY2023. Parts of the quarry are undergoing progressive rehabilitation. In FY2023, the Horsley Park Plant 23 quarry was successfully relinquished to facilitate stages 2 to 4 of the new Oakdale Industrial Estate. An 11-hectare site in the south-western corner of the quarry, previously used for stockpiling, has been rehabilitated for the Oakdale East Industrial Estate.

The Wollert facility, operated by Brickworks Limited's subsidiary, The Austral Tile Company Pty Ltd, is a major brick manufacturing plant with an associated on-site quarry. Located at Brick Makers Drive, Wollert, Victoria, it comprises two plants, Wollert East (operational since 2006) and Wollert West, doubling overall capacity. It is among the largest and most modern brick manufacturing facilities globally, operating 24/7 with a production capacity of 170 million bricks per year. The site is self-sufficient in water and practices progressive rehabilitation.

170 million bricks per year

modern and efficient technology, including the use of robots in the manufacturing process. The kiln is fuelled by natural gas.

Over 1,700 people (593 full-time employees and 265 contractors at Open Cut; 558 employees and 321 contractors at Aquila Mine in 2023)

The Capcoal Complex, operated by Anglo American, is a combined open-cut and underground mining operation located in the Bowen Basin, near Middlemount in Central Queensland. It produces premium quality hard coking coal, pulverised coal injection (PCI) coal, and thermal coal. The complex includes the Lake Lindsay and Oak Park open-cut mines and the Aquila underground mine.

Averaged 6-8 million tonnes of saleable coal annually (2017-2023); Aquila mine expected to produce around five million tonnes of hard coking coal annually

Coal Handling and Preparation Plant (CHPP)

central Coal Handling and Preparation Plant (CHPP), two longwall systems, remote-controlled stockpile dozer, double-trailer configuration haulers, front-end loaders, graders, water trucks, compaction roller

Aquila Mine commenced production in 2022, extending the life of the underground operations

841 employees and 526 contractors as of 2023

The mine produces coking, soft coking, and thermal coal for export to countries including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and India. The coal is transported by rail to Gladstone for shipping.

The Dawson mine utilises what is described as the largest coal handling and preparation plant in Australia. The processing circuit includes dense medium cyclones, spirals, and flotation. Raw coal is delivered to the plant via an overland conveyor system. The plant can process at 2000 tonnes per hour in a two-stage mode and up to 3400 tonnes per hour in a single-stage mode.

The operation is an open cut mine that consists of three pits: North, Central, and South. Mining methods include truck and shovel, dragline, and highwall mining. The mine was the first in Australia to introduce draglines into its operation in 1963.

An 82-hectare area of the Dawson mine has received progressive certification for rehabilitation from Queensland's environmental regulator. This land is now being used for cattle grazing. Macmahon, a mining contractor at the Dawson South project, is set to continue providing open-cut mining services under a new contract commencing on or before 1 July 2024 for a period of up to three years.

800-850 (prior to suspension)

Following a localised ignition event on 29 June 2024, production at the Grosvenor mine was suspended and the workforce was safely evacuated. The mine is now in a project phase, with a staged and carefully managed re-entry process that began in August 2025 after receiving approval from Queensland's safety regulator. Visual inspections have confirmed limited damage to critical life-of-mine infrastructure, and the restart of longwall production is targeted for late 2027, subject to investment approval.

In 2023, the mine produced 2.797 million tons of coal.

Run-of-mine coal is transported via a conveyor to the neighbouring Moranbah North mine's coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP) for processing. The plant has a nameplate capacity of 7.5 million tonnes per annum.

integrated automation and electrification system from ABB, including the 800xA control system

staged and carefully managed re-entry process; restart of longwall production targeted for late 2027; agreement to sell Australian steelmaking coal assets, including Grosvenor mine, to Peabody Energy

660 (in 2015-2017)

Production was suspended in March 2025 following a minor gas ignition event underground. The mine has since restarted underground activity using remote mining technology and is in the process of ramping up to normal longwall operations, subject to regulatory approval. Anglo American is in the process of divesting its steelmaking coal business, which includes the Moranbah North mine, with a sale expected to be agreed in 2026.

In 2024, the run-of-mine (ROM) coal production was approximately 3.6 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa), with an approval to mine up to 13.5 Mtpa. The mine has an annual production capacity of 8 million tonnes. In 2014, the mine produced 4.2 million tonnes of hard coking coal.

The run-of-mine coal is processed on-site at the coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP). The CHPP was expanded to support additional coal from the nearby Grosvenor mine.

longwall mining equipment, continuous miners

A proposed extension, the Moranbah North Extension Project, involves extending mining operations into an area to the east of the current mine. This project will target the Goonyella Middle Seam and will use existing mine infrastructure. To enable the progression of mining at Moranbah North and the adjacent Grosvenor Mine, an existing rail line and water pipeline are planned to be relocated.