Big win for Whitehaven’s $1b Queensland coal project

Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC) has welcomed the Queensland Government’s approval of its greenfield $1b open cut coal mine, Winchester South.

The State’s Coordinator General has accepted the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Winchester South metallurgical coal project with an evaluation report and recommendation for the project to proceed, subject to environmental conditions.

The Winchester South mine will produce up to 17mtpa of primarily metallurgical run-of-mine (ROM) coal (11mtpa product coal), from an estimated 380mt of reserves, which will supply the international steel-making market for 30 years.

“The Coordinator General recommendation is an important milestone for Whitehaven, for the people of Queensland and for our trading partners who rely on Australia’s high-quality metallurgical coal, which is essential for steel production,” said Whitehaven Coal, in a statement released today.

The Winchester South project is about 30km southwest of Moranbah within the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland and is 100% owned by Whitehaven Coal.

It was acquired from Rio Tinto in 2018 and is adjacent to the Daunia metallurgical coal mine which Whitehaven is acquiring (announced on 18 October 2023) from the BMA joint venture.

“This will provide opportunities for future synergies including potential integration of operations,” the statement continued.

Construction is expected to start in 2024 with about 500 jobs created during this phase and another 500 jobs during operations.

Key features of the Winchester South mine includes mine infrastructure areas including workshops and a coal handling and preparation plant (CHHP), rail loop and train load out facility connecting to the Norwich Park Branch Railway, private access road, raw water pipeline connecting the to Eungella pipeline network and electricity transmission line from the existing power network.