Pembroke Resources says it is fast approaching the commencement of its Olive Downs mining operations in June, working together with mining contractor Thiess and key equipment suppliers like Caterpillar and its dealer Hastings Deering as well as shovel supplier Liebherr Mining and CHPP design and construction contractors like CPB Contractors and Sedgman Pty Ltd. Chairman and CEO Barry Tudor commented: “To date, more than 500,000 hours have gone into construction and over A$500 million invested in this exceptional project, while fostering local and regional employment opportunities.”
He also shared images showing delivery of the first truck tray for the fully autonomous and electric drive 327 ton class Cat 794 fleet, the CHPP construction and ROM stockpile, bridge construction on the 19 km rail corridor, one of the new Liebherr R 9800 excavators and the assembly pad.
A major milestone was reached in February with the delivery of a critical piece of infrastructure, the Sheldon Bridge. The 120 m long, dual lane, five span reinforced concrete bridge spans the Isaac River, connecting the operating site to the public road network. Sitting 13 m above the bed of the Isaac River it provides a river flood immunity exceeding a one-in-100-year event. The bridge was delivered safely with no injuries or notifiable incidents. The principal contractor, Davbridge Constructions, is a local Queensland civil construction contractor.
Olive Downs has created between 500 to 700 jobs during construction and will create more than 1,000 jobs once at full production, with the majority of those positions to be based within Central and North Queensland. Significantly, the workforce for the bridge construction was also housed in Moranbah.
Olive Downs has a JORC Reserve of 527 Mt of steelmaking coal which is strategically located in the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland. The mine is a high quality, long life mine estimated at 80 years and will commence mining operations in 2023. Once in production, the mine will add to Australia’s exports, shipping high quality steelmaking coal to key markets including Japan, India, and South Korea.
For around the first decade, the mine will be in Phase 1 – initial establishment of operations to 6 Mt/y ROM coal production at the Olive Downs South domain within Pits ODS1, ODS2 and ODS3. The two out-of-pit waste rock emplacements in the north of the Olive Downs South domain will be constructed and rehabilitated, and backfilling of Pits ODS1, ODS2 and ODS3 will have commenced. The northern section of the permanent highwall emplacement will have been constructed to isolate the open cuts from the Isaac River. This will be followed by peak production of 6-12 Mt/y in Phase 2 when all pits in the Olive Downs South domain (except Pits ODS7 and ODS8) would be operating.
In November 2022 at a Bowen Basin Mining Club event, Pembroke Resources General Manager, Blair Richardson revealed some details about the fleet – namely that Thiess will deploy both Caterpillar 793 and 794 haul trucks working with 800 t excavators [Liebherr R 9800]. The Olive Downs Complex he said will be the first greenfield east coast site to roll out full automation with three automated fleets and two manned fleets. This will be one of the most significant greenfield Caterpillar Command for hauling projects in recent years.