Bowen Coking Coal, which marked the acquisition of the Burton mine in the Bowen Basin last week, has shipped its first coal from its fellow Bowen asset, the Bluff open-pit PCI coal operation near Blackwater, Queensland, Australia.

The miner said that the order of about 38,000 tonnes left Cook Colliery by rail for the RG Tanna Coal Terminal, where it was set for shipment to customer Formosa Plastics Group, headquartered in Taiwan, by last week. The deal was inked under a marketing joint venture between equal partners Bowen and trading company M Resources.

Managing Director and CEO Gerhard Redelinghuys called the shipment a significant achievement for the growing company.

“Our first shipment from Bluff is just the start of our production ramp-up. We have a portfolio of quality metallurgical coal developments coming on line this year at Broadmeadow East, Burton followed by Isaac River as we work towards our production target of mining 5 Mtpa ROM by 2024,” he said.

Bluff produces an Ultra-Low Volatile Pulverised Coal Injection (ULVPCI) coal, which it said is particularly attractive for its low ash, high energy and high coke replacement ratio. According to the group, demand for ULVPCI is expected to remain buoyant due to the impact on PCI supply from Russia as a result of sanctions imposed following the invasion of Ukraine.

Bowen acquired Bluff last December. It began mining in April 2022 in partnership with contractor HSE Mining. On 1 July, the company announced its completion of the acquisition of New Lenton Coal, which has a 90% interest in the Lenton joint venture, and the 5-million-tonne-per-year-capacity Burton operation.

In addition to the Bluff PCI mine and now Burton, Bowen also owns the Broadmeadow East mine (100%), Isaac River (100%), Cooroorah (100%), Hillalong (90%) and Comet Ridge (100%) coking coal projects in the Bowen Basin. Bowen is also a joint venture partner with Stanmore Coal Limited in the Lilyvale (15% interest) and Mackenzie (5% interest) coking coal projects.

Source: Bowen Coking Coal