The mine, within the Hunter Valley area, was positioned on care and upkeep in late 2006 due to operational difficulties and decrease coal costs.
Dartbrook was owned by Anglo American till the miner bought its 83.33% curiosity to Australian Pacific Coal for A$50 million ($36 million) in 2015.
Coal was efficiently produced to floor on Wednesday following the completion and testing of the newly put in 4 km conveyor system, the corporate stated, including that it’s designed to move coal produced from the Kayuga seam to floor, by way of the Hunter Tunnel.
Miners have lower portions of coal since taking the majority pattern for lab testing in mid-July 2024. With the conveyor operational, the conveyor and mining methods will now enter a commissioning interval earlier than business manufacturing commences.
Initially, Dartbrook will solely produce unwashed thermal coal on the market to home or export clients, Australian Pacific stated. As soon as refurbishment of the Coal Dealing with and Preparation Plant is accomplished in early 2025, the moist plant can be totally operational permitting coal to be graded for export markets.
“That is one other main milestone for Dartbrook. For the primary time because the mine entered care and upkeep in 2006, Dartbrook is as soon as once more producing top quality coal,” Australian Pacific CEO Ayten Saridas, stated in a information launch.
“Commissioning is underway and the crew on the bottom is working laborious to convey the mine safely into business manufacturing within the coming weeks,” Saridas stated.
“In simply 18 months, we now have simplified the three way partnership, secured USD60 million in restart capex, finalised land and water entry agreements, dewatered and refurbished the Hunter Tunnel, sourced and commissioned mining gear, and put in a brand-new 4 kilometre conveyor system.
“There may be nonetheless work to be carried out to realize business manufacturing and we stay targeted on our purpose of constructing Dartbrook a world-class underground mine,” she stated. “We stay up for cementing our place because the Hunter Valley’s latest coal producer.”
Australia Pacific’s shares rose over 5% in Thursday buying and selling. The corporate has a A$96 million ($64m) market capitalization.