Gregory coal mine
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | 60 km north east of Emerald |
| Queensland | |
| Country | Australia |
| Production | |
| Products | Coking coal |
| History | |
| Opened | 1979 |
| Closed | 2012 |
| Owner | |
| Company | BHP Billiton/Mitsubishi Alliance |
The Gregory Coal Mine is an open-cut coal mine located 60 km north east of Emerald in the Central Queensland, Australia. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 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 5 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. The complex is owned by the BHP Billiton/Mitsubishi Alliance. 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. Crinum received the Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Innovations Award in 2009 for a safety guard which prevents falls onto a coveyor belt.
In September 2012, it was announced that production at the mine was to cease on 10 October 2012. Due to falling coal prices the mine had become uneconomic. The Crinum underground mine was not closed and the coal handling preparation plant at Gregory would continue to be used.
Severe flooding affected operations at the mine in 2008. The 2010–2011 Queensland floods resulted in a force majeure declaration for numerous Queensland mines including the Gregory Crinum complex.
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