Global
Australian partner for
Gregory Crinum
Sojitz Coal Mining has officially taken ownership of the Gregory Crinum coal mine
near Emerald in Central Queensland, Australia.
S
ojitz selected mine consultant DRA
Global as the preferred partner for the
restart, operations and maintenance of
the Gregory Crinum Metallurgical Coal mine
in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. The mine was
previously owned by BHP Billiton Mitsubishi
Alliance Joint Venture ( JV) made up of partners
BHP and Mitsubishi Development (BMA).
“The selection of DRA Global as our partner
for the recommencement of operations at
Gregory Crinum signifies another milestone
in Sojitz’s vote of confidence towards the
Australian coal industry,” says Cameron
Vorias, CEO and managing director of Sojitz
Coal Mining.
“Recommencement of mining operations
at Gregory Crinum will deliver significant
benefits to all our stakeholders in addition to
ensuring security of supply of hard coking coal
to our valued customers, as well as providing
jobs and strengthening the economy for
the people in the Emerald, Springsure and
Cappella Area and the State of Queensland.”
The restart of Gregory Crinum will
be delivered in two stages with the first
stage focusing on the refurbishment of
the processing plant, followed by the full
operations and maintenance contract of the
processing plant for the next three years.
The Gregory Coal Mine is an open-cut coal
mine at Crinum, about 60km north east of
Emerald in Central Queensland. The mine has
coal reserves of more than 159 million tonnes
of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserves
in Asia and the world.
The Bowen Basin mine has an annual
production capacity of five million tonnes of
coal. Operations at the Gregory mine started
in 1979. Coal from the mine is exported to
the Port of Gladstone via the Blackwater
railway system.
The underground mine at the site is known
as Crinum. Together both mines are referred
to as the Gregory Crinum complex. In mid-
2013, the Crinum mine contained 8.3 million
tonnes of coal and was forecast to continue
extraction for another four years. Operations
at the Crinum mine began in 1997 and it
employs about 200 people.
Longwall mining at Crinum finished in
2007. On 27 March 2019, BMA completed
the sale of the mine to Sojitz Corporation
for AUD100-million. In addition to the sale
of the mine to Sojitz, BMA is providing
appropriate funding for rehabilitation of the
site, with all rehabilitation liabilities transferred
to Sojitz.
Sojitz Coal Mining has taken over the ownership of
the Gregory Crinum mine in Australia.
[8] MINING MIRROR JUNE 2019
www.miningmirror.co.za