The Dartbrook coal mine, which was at the centre of a heated bidding war in 2022, is set for an imminent restart as the joint venture (JV) partners advance key development pathways.
This includes the recommissioning of the Dartbrook processing plant, the dewatering of the Hunter Tunnel to re-establish the ventilation circuit and facilitate remediation activities, and procurement of key mining equipment.
“AQC (Australian Pacific Coal) and our joint venture partners have made good progress on all major critical path activities since the end of December, particularly the remediation operations at the mine site and efforts to secure funding to enable production restart in H2 2023,” AQC interim chief executive officer Ayten Saridas said.
Several parties recently completed due diligence on Dartbrook as AQC establishes debt funding for the mine. AQC said the Dartbrook JV has received, and is currently assessing, multiple financing offers which would make up a significant portion of Dartbrook’s restart capital.
The Dartbrook restart capital expenditure is estimated to be $100–120 million all up.
AQC announced that a recently completed review of the mine plan had also resulted in superior outcomes for Dartbrook, including the potential to enhance coal quality.
A new Dartbrook JV was formed in September 2022 after months of competitive bidding for the mine.
The mine was sought after as it was one of the few sanctioned and undeveloped coal assets in Australia at a time when prices for the commodity had been driven to record highs.
After receiving multiple bids from former Australian coal baron Nathan Tinkler, AQC entered into a binding term sheet with its largest shareholder, Trepang Services, as well as M Resources and Tetra Resources.
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