Coal and Mining

"Features by Nicholas Newman"

 

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Bright Future for Australia's Coal and CSG

The future for the state’s coal and coal seam gas (csg) industries is looking up! Overseas demand for these sectors continues to increase at a steady pace. As a result, there are ambitious plans to invest billions of dollars to dramatically expand capacity. However, the industries’ expansion plans face several obstacles that need to be resolved. They include the recently announced carbon tax, skills shortages and local opposition due to environmental problems.

 

Australia's Clean Coal Drive

Coal's dominant share cent of Australia's generation mix (around 80 per cent) is poised to halve over the coming decades as more gas and renewable generation come onstream. But how far coal's contribution slips will also hinge on advances in cleaner coal technology, with growing official concern over emissions signalled by a carbon tax due in force next July.

 

The Olympic Dam Story

Western Mining since the 1950’s had been searching the Australian continent using pioneering theories and technologies for new sources of copper. However, it was not until the early 1970’s did the team at Western Mining focus on the deep north of Southern Australia. In 1975, Western Mining decided to test drill at a number of sites near the Roxby Downs airstrip based on theories developed by Douglas Haynes, one of its staff geologists.

 

Peak coal approaches for Indonesia

Peak coal approaches for Indonesia Indonesia has been a rising star of the global coal industry for years and is now the world’s largest exporter of thermal coal. However, tighter restrictions on coal mining operations and the need for infrastructural investment to reach new mines suggest the country will be unable to maintain its current level of output growth. And just like the country’s oil and gas, export volumes will increasingly be challenged by rising internal demand.