A new major mining partnership is ready to rock the central Queensland mining sector – but the hard work is just beginning.
Komatsu has become a household name across the mining industry thanks to its years in the game and reputation for quality equipment. And few understand this better than the team at Coronado Global Resources, a leading international producer of metallurgical coal.
Coronado and Komatsu have been working together in the US for years, and that history that has carried over to Coronado’s Australian operations, where Komatsu has been a steady supplier of surface mining equipment.
Coronado is now heading underground for an expansion at Curragh, its open-cut coal mine in central Queensland.
The new operation, named Mammoth Underground Mine – a reference to the coal seam that was discovered over a century ago and is now being mined – is Coronado’s first foray into underground mining in Australia.
Komatsu has been selected to supply the fleet of underground mining equipment for the expansion, including three 12CM27 continuous miners, nine 10SC32BC shuttle cars, three UFB14 feeder breakers, and three 2337 multi-bolters.
Image: Komatsu
Mammoth Underground will be mined using a bord-and-pillar method, whereby a series of tunnels is cut to form pillars underground that are then mined through targeted extraction.
“The equipment we will be supplying is state-of-the-art bord-and-pillar mining equipment,” Komatsu regional general manager – north Greg Anderson told Australian Mining.
Mining is scheduled to commence at Mammoth Underground Mine from December.
Komatsu has developed and committed to an equipment manufacturing and delivery schedule that enables Coronado to achieve its ambitious production start and ramp up timelines.
But Anderson isn’t concerned; he believes the company’s well established global footprint is more than up to the task of getting the equipment together in time.
“Coronado’s production is dependent on our ability to deliver,” he said. “That’s why we’re using a range of locations and methods to manufacture the equipment and get it delivered within the timeframe.”
Once mining is underway, Komatsu will continue to provide ongoing support and services as part of its commitment to ensuring the success of the project.
“A big part of our strategy is an ongoing partnership with Coronado,” Anderson said. “We will build and supply all-new original equipment, and then provide parts and services to ensure industry leading production support and uptime is achieved.
“We’ll have people on-site to assist the mine to operate and maintain the equipment to get industry leading production and reliability that we know this equipment can deliver.”
With production set to boom at the site, Anderson highlighted the influx of jobs the expansion will bring to central Queensland.
“There will likely be more than 200 new full-time mining positions at the mine, including full-time Komatsu workers,” he said. “And the benefits for nearby communities will be extensive.
“Komatsu’s Parkhurst workshop anticipate maintenance and rebuild work will be generated from the partnership.”
Some of the major fabrication of the continuous miners is being done at Komatsu’s commercial facility in Tianjin, China, from where the machines will be sent to the company’s Parkhurst facility for assembly.
Anderson said the shuttle cars and breaker feeders are being completely fabricated and assembled in China, while the multi-bolters are to be manufactured and assembled in Moss Vale, New South Wales.
“We’re very invested in making sure we can get the machines to Coronado on time and make sure they operate at their optimum potential,” he said.
Komatsu has mobilised a team and additional resources to support the project over the next few months to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together which, according to Anderson, is all part of Komatsu’s ongoing commitment to delivering excellence.
“A founding pillar of Komatsu is customer service and partnership,” Anderson said.
“We don’t just want to be there for the sale of equipment, we want to be part of the operation going forward.”
With Coronado’s expansion plans expected to go beyond Mammoth, such an approach is set to prove fruitful well into the future, a process Anderson said will become a blueprint for the way the Komatsu brand operates.
“With a proven track record of over 100 years, Komatsu is in a prime position to use our premium equipment and comprehensive support network to take advantage of this massive opportunity,” he said. “We look forward to seeing the partnership unfold and developing our global relationship with Coronado into the future.”
This feature appeared in the July 2024 issue of Australian Mining.
