Coal in Australia

Australian coal is either high-quality bituminous coal (black coal) or lower-quality lignite (brown coal).[8]

Bituminous coal is mined in Queensland and New South Wales, and is used for both domestic power generation and for export. It is mined underground or open-cut before being transported by rail to power stations or export shipping terminals.[9][10] Bituminous coal was also once transported to other Australian states for power generation and industrial boilers.

Lignite is mined in Victoria and South Australia,[11] and is of lower quality due to a lower thermal value largely caused by a high water content.[12] Ash content varies significantly but some Australian lignite have relatively low ash content.[13] As a result, Victoria adopted German power station and briquette technology in the 1920s to utilise the lignite reserves of the Latrobe Valley. In 2013 coal from three open cut lignite coal mines in Victoria is used for baseload power generation.[11]

Australian Energy resources and major export ports as of 2008

Full-time employment in coal mining since 1984 (thousands of people)

Australian coal production (red) and exports (black), 1980–2012

Australian coal was first discovered in New South Wales by shipwreck survivors in August 1797, at Coalcliff, north of Wollongong. George Bass discovered coal soon after in the cliffs at Newcastle off of Point Solander.[14][15]

Australian coal and coke quarterly exports ($Millions) since 1960

In 2016, Australia was the biggest net exporter of coal, with 32% of global exports (389 Mt out of 1,213 Mt total). It was the fourth-highest producer with 6.9% of global production (503 Mt out of 7,269 Mt total). 77% of production was exported (389 Mt out of 503 Mt total).[16]

The following table lists the major Australian coal mines.[17]

The Port of Newcastle, New South Wales, is the world's largest and most efficient coal handling operation through its two terminals: Carrington and Kooragang. Australia has nine major coal-export ports,[20] including:

September 2019 climate strike in Tumbarumba, Australia

Both underground and open-cut mines generate significant environmental impacts, including modified topography, soil erosion, water pollution, air pollution and acid water drainage.[25] The Australian community is understandably concerned about any mining activity that could place private or public property or valuable landscapes at risk.[26] The coal industry claims however that extensive rehabilitation of areas mined helps to ensure that land capability, after coal mining, meets agreed and appropriate standards.[27]

Coal is the principal fossil fuel used in power generation not only in Australia but in many other countries. Links between coal mining, coal burning, and climate change are being discussed widely in Australia.[28][29]

On 27 November 2006 the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales judge Justice Nicola Pain made the decision to set aside the Director-General's acceptance of the Environmental Assessment for the Anvil Hill coal mine,[30] on the grounds that it did not include a comprehensive greenhouse gas assessment, even though the proposed mining of coal was for export. However, on 7 June 2007 the planning minister for NSW Frank Sartor reversed this decision and approved the mine, attaching a list of 80 conditions to the mines operation including conservation offsets.[31]

• Carbon capture and storage in Australia
• Coal companies of Australia
• Coal phase out
• Greenhouse Mafia
• Hunter Valley Coal Chain
• List of coal fired power stations in Australia
• Mining in Australia
• Mitigation of global warming in Australia
• Coastal coal-carrying trade of New South Wales

• "Illawarra Coal" - An unofficial history of coal mining in the Illawarra
• Survey of Energy Resources 2007 for Australia