Loy Yang mine

The Loy Yang mine which is owned by Loy Yang Power. The mine, which is located near Traralgon, produces approximately 30 million tonnes of coal a year which is supplied to Loy Yang Power's adjoining 2200 megawatt (MW) Loy Yang A power station and to International Power Mitsui's 1026 MW Loy Yang B power station.

Mine
In a 2009 brochure, Loy Yang Power stated that the mine:


 * had an annual output of approximately 30 million tonnes of coal;
 * produced approximately three to four million cubic metres of overburden;
 * the coal seams "are up to 170 metres thick and are covered with overburden which has an average depth of nine metres";
 * "four huge electric powered bucketwheel dredgers are used to excavate the open cut mine. The largest of these machines is 50 metres high and 190 metres long - more than twice the length of a jumbo jet. It can dig 4,000 tonnes of coal an hour, or more than one tonne per second"; and
 * "coal is transported by conveyor belt to a 70,000 tonne capacity raw coal bunker".

Protests
On September 3, 2007, activists from Real Action on Climate Change chained themselves to the coal conveyor belt from the Loy Yang Mine which supplies coal to the brown-coal-fired Loy Yang A Power Station and Loy Yang B Power Station in Traralgon, Australia. Two people, and others hung several large banners from the plant. The action took place several days before an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Sydney, and was intended to draw attention to Prime Minister John Howard's failure to limit Australian carbon emissions. Four people were arrested.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Researching coal in Victoria
 * Victoria and coal


 * Australia and coal
 * Carbon Capture and Storage
 * Carbon Capture and Storage in Australia
 * New South Wales and coal
 * Queensland and coal