New Hope Group has released its June 2024 quarterly activities report, revealing strong operations at the New Acland mine in Queensland.
A total of 2.7 bank cubic metres (bcm) of prime overburden material was moved from the Manning Vale East and Willeroo Pits at New Acland during the quarter, a 39.8 per cent increase from the previous quarter.
ROM coal production also saw a 33.1 per cent surge, totalling 0.95 million tonnes (Mt). Saleable coal production equalled 0.44Mt, a 57.3 per cent increase from the previous quarter.
“Coal sales, which included coal purchased from Queensland Bulk Handling, totalled 0.57Mt, compared to 0.17Mt in the previous quarter, as New Acland mine continues to take advantage of additional spot rail capacity,” New Hope said.
“Domestic coal sales commenced in July 2024, with over 2600 tonnes sold to customers across south-east Queensland.”
Willeroo Pit continued to advance ahead of schedule with the introduction of additional mining fleet capacity and the onboarding of additional employees. The site is now operating with 200 employees, with further recruitment planned for the 2024–25 financial year (FY25).
New Hope will continue mining activities at the Manning Vale East and Willeroo Pits while progressing planning and surface infrastructure works in preparation for commencing mining activities at the Manning Vale West pit. This is expected to commence in the second half of 2025.
The successful quarter rounded out a strong first year of operations since the commencement of Stage 3 at New Acland, with the operation outperforming its FY24 guidance.
New Acland delivered 2.4Mt of run-of-mine coal production during the period, as well as over 1Mt of saleable coal production and coal sales of 0.8Mt.
While the Bengalla mine in New South Wales faced numerous interruptions throughout the quarter, the operation now holds high amounts of in-pit inventory and product coal stocks, which will provide a strong production runway to start FY25.
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