Kestrel Coal Resources (Kestrel) operates the existing Kestrel Mine, an underground metallurgical coal mine situated approximately 40km north of the township of Emerald in Central Queensland. Kestrel Mine recently celebrated 30 years of operation in Emerald and has a long history of supporting the local region. The majority of Kestrel’s existing workforce lives locally.
Kestrel is now proposing to extend west of the existing Kestrel Mine, by mining within a portion of Mineral Development Licence (MDL) 182 which will require a new mining lease (refer to the proposed green outlined area on the map below), and also within the existing mining leases (ML) 70301, ML 70481, and ML1978. This project is called the Kestrel West Mine Extension.
The project will extend the life of the existing mine by up to 30 years, maintaining all existing jobs and infrastructure, and maintaining current production of up to 12 Mtpa run of mine coal per annum if approved. Significant royalty payments benefiting all of Queensland will also be maintained.
The project will continue to use underground longwall mining to recover the metallurgical coal resource for use in steel making. The mined coal will be handled and washed using existing infrastructure, then loaded using the existing train loadout system for transportation to the Port of Gladstone.
An environmental impact statement (EIS) is being prepared under the Queensland Environmental Protection Act 1994 for the project. An accredited EIS assessment process will be used to assess the project under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999. The EIS will be prepared to identify the potential environmental impacts and those measures required to mitigate and manage impacts for the project.
An Initial Advice Statement has been prepared to provide a project overview. The IAS can be viewed here: Kestrel West IAS
An EPBC referral submitted for the project has determined the project to be a controlled action and can be viewed here: EPBC 2024-09792
Public consultation regarding the draft Terms of Reference (TOR) for the EIS commenced on 22 July and closed on 2 September 2024.
Following the consultation the final Terms of Reference were issued in November 2024. These can be found here: Final TOR Kestrel West.