Hail Creek mine

The Hail Creek mine is an open cut coal mine located 20 kilometres north west of Clermont in the Bowen Basin in central Queensland. Rio Tinto, which has a 71 per cent interest in the mine, states on its website that coal from the mine is sold to "customers in Asia and Europe with up to 12 million tonnes of thermal coal per annum."

Rio Tinto states that the "Hail Creek Mine's resources were discovered in 1968 with project feasibility work completed in the 1970s. In 2001 Hail Creek Mine started construction and was officially opened in 2003."

On its website, Rio Tinto states that as of the end of 2008 the mine employed 436 people.

Rio Tinto states that "in 2008 the mine produced more than six million tonnes of hard and semi-soft coking coal. After being washed and prepared for sale, the coal is loaded onto trains for transportation 100km to the Dalrymple Bay Coal terminal where it is shipped to international customers. Hail Creek Mine had marketable reserves of 167 million tonnes as at 31 December 2008."

Coal from the mine is transported over 100km by train to the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal for shipping overseas.

Joint venture
Rio Tinto Coal Australia manages the operation on behalf of the joint venture partners, Queensland Coal Pty Limited (82 per cent), Nippon Steel Australia Pty Ltd (8 per cent), Marubeni Coal Pty Ltd (6.67 per cent) and Sumisho Coal Development Pty Ltd (3.33 per cent).

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Australia and coal
 * Queensland and coal
 * Rio Tinto's coal interests