A blast at the box cut at Whitehaven’s Maules Creek open cut mine site on Tuesday was the prelude to the commencement of mining operations.
Construction started in January, and the company reports the project is on schedule to rail the first coal in March next year.
About 350 people are now working on the mine project and construction is more than 50 percent completed, a spokesman said.
As activity at Maules Creek continues to ramp up, Narrabri Chamber of Commerce at its meeting on Tuesday night expressed concerns that mine jobs should be sourced in Narrabri.
Members expressed the view that Narrabri workers were under represented at the mine site.
However, a Whitehaven spokesman said the initial recruitment was focused on experienced mineworkers.
“By February the number of mine employees will be about 100. Twenty five percent of those will be sourced from the local areas.
“And we have basically said to the experienced people who have come to work at the mine ‘you are expected to relocate to live locally.’”
The Maules Creek mine project is one of the most significant investments currently underway in regional NSW.
The project construction costs are estimated to total $767 million.
Motorists along the Kamilaroi Highway between Narrabri and Boggabri have been observing the progress of major infrastructure works as development proceeds.
The most visible to highway travellers is an overbridge to carry a rail spur line reaching over the adjacent floodplain.
Whitehaven reports the construction of the mine is on schedule and on budget with the first coal expected to be loaded onto trains in March next year.
Mining equipment has started to arrive on site with the first large
excavator assembled and work begun on the boxcut.
The sight of the elevated rail line stretching across the floodplain underlines the multi million dollar investment in the project.
Earth ramps have been built on each side of the overbridge which will soon span the highway linking the spur lines on each side.
The elevated railway, now 50 percent completed, spans about one kilometre of floodplain and runs 17 km to Maules Creek mine and for about 34 kilometres in total.
Sections of the line are shared between Whitehaven and Boggabri Coal.
The rail spur traverses a new bridge across the Namoi river.
The Maules Creek coal mine is one of the state’s biggest new developments.
While much publicised protests have caused disruption and seen many arrests over the past two years, the work remains on schedule, Whitehaven Coal reports.
Whitehaven estimates the $767 million mine will employ approximately 450 people when operating at capacity, with most workers sourced from the local region.
The project is also expected to add over A$40 million in yearly wages to the local community once it is operating.
“A significant number of the applications have been from the local area, which is pleasing,” said Maules Creek general manager Mr Peter Wilkinson.
“We have also spoken to a significant number of experienced
operators and tradespeople who are originally from the area and would like to return”.
Additional personnel will be recruited in the coming months.
Whitehaven Managing Director and CEO Paul Flynn has said Maules Creek is the “jewel in Whitehaven’s crown”.
When operating at full capacity, he expects the company to be “more resilient to adverse cyclical shifts and better placed to meet global demand for cleaner coal.”
Mr Flynn plans to involve the local community heavily in developing and operating the mine, with plans to ensure a strong proportion of the workforce is recruited from the Aboriginal community.
“Whitehaven’s goal is that within five years of the mine commencing, 10 per cent of the workforce will be local indigenous and Aboriginal people, reflecting the local population as a whole.”