METS

Anglo awards $240M in contracts for high-tech mine

New Queensland mine set to be one of the world's most technologically advanced underground mines

 Underground at Aquila

Underground at Aquila

The company aims to make Aquila one the world's most technologically advanced underground mines.

Anglo Metallurgical Coal CEO Tyler Mitchelson said the project was on track for first longwall production of premium quality hard coking coal in early 2022.

"Our Aquila project is progressing well, with support from its Queensland-based workforce and contracting partners," Mitchelson said.

"More than 90% of our Aquila contracts have been awarded to Queensland-based suppliers, and we currently have around 500 people working on the project in engineering, surface construction and underground development.

"Aquila will be a breakthrough project, designed to set a new standard of safety and performance by leveraging technology and focusing on operational improvements."

Aquila will extend the life of Anglo American's existing Capcoal underground operations near Middlemount by six years and continue to utilise the associated infrastructure at the Capcoal complex as its nearby Grasstree Mine approaches end of life.

The project, which is on-time, includes a $5 million reverse osmosis water treatment system to increase the use of recycled water and reduce the reliance on fresh water at the mine - a key target in Anglo American's Sustainable Mining Plan.

"The mine will showcase our innovation-led approach to sustainable mining, with a remote operating centre on the surface of the mine, proximity detection systems underground to alert machine operators to pedestrians and the continued digitisation of our operations, using new technologies such as our Australian-first intrinsically safe underground electronic tablets," Mitchelson said.

Anglo American awarded a $95 million mining development contract to Mastermyne in 2019.

Last financial year, Anglo American invested $2.83 billion with Queensland suppliers, which was 77% of the company's total expenditure in Australia.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining News Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining News Intelligence team.

editions

Mining Company ESG Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The Mining Company ESG Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Global Leadership Report 2024: Net Zero

Gain insights into decarbonisation trends and strategies from interviews with 20+ top mining executives and experts plus an industrywide survey.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Project Pipeline Handbook 2024

View our 50 top mining projects, handpicked using a unique, objective selection process from a database of 450+ global assets.

editions

MiningNews.net Research Report 2024

Access a multi-pronged tool to identify critical risks and opportunities in Australia’s mining industry.