MetRes Pty Ltd – the 50/50 joint venture between Stanmore Coal and M Resources – has completed the acquisition of the Millennium and Mavis Downs Mine and associated assets from Peabody Energy Australia.
Queensland Resources Minister, the Hon. Scott Stewart MP, said the sale agreement between MetRes and Peabody will allow the restart of the mine near Moranbah.
“This sale agreement is great news for Queensland and will help with our state’s COVID-19 economic recovery,” Minister Stewart said.
“This venture will create more than 150 jobs through investment in underground expansions and completion of rehabilitation obligations.”
“With a predicted mine life of 22 years including rehabilitation, these are lasting jobs and will create long-term royalties that will benefit all Queenslanders.”
“This investment is a strong sign of the growing confidence in our resources sector as Queensland continues its road to economic recovery,” he said.
Queensland’s Stanmore Coal purchased their first open cut coal mine off Brazil’s Vale and Japan’s Sumitomo in 2015. As part of the sale, Stanmore took on a $32 million rehabilitation obligation associated with the mine. Since then, their portfolio has grown to feature projects in the Bowen and Surat basins.
The Millennium and Mavis Downs Mine has JORC Resources of 37 million tonnes (Mt), with 13 Mt Measured, 17 Mt Indicated and 7Mt Inferred [1].
A Coal Reserve for the open-cut and auger operation planned has been estimated at 2 Mt under the JORC Code [2]. Coal Reserves for the underground operations are estimated to be 5.43 MT ROM, 4.56 Mt marketable [3].
[1] Millennium Mine JORC Resource Estimate Report (October 2020).
[2] Millennium Mine JORC Resource Estimate Report (October 2020) – open cut and auger.
[3] Millennium Mine Underground JORC Reserves Report (October 2020).