Eagle Downs coking coal JV to proceed with mine development

A decision to go ahead with the mine development of the Eagle Downs hard coking coal project has been made by the management of the 50/50 joint venture between Aquila Coal Pty Ltd (Aquila Coal) and Vale SA's wholly owned subsidiary, Bowen Central Coal Pty Ltd (BCC), as announced by Australian miner Aquila Resources on December 21.
 
The Eagle Downs project was subject to a long dispute between the two companys over shipping. Aquila had been fighting against a preferred option by Vale to develop the mine ahead of port and rail links to the project, but said in its statement that a joint management committee had approved the plan.
 
When completed, the mine will produce up to 5.1 million mt per year, with an average of 4.5 million mt per year of hard coking coal expected over the initial 10 years of production. According to Aquila's statement, work continues on seeking to identify and secure a suitable port and rail logistics solution for the project. The details of the project is expected to be announced in the first quarter of 2012.
 
In addition, Vale and Aquila have individually applied for capacity at the proposed new coal terminal at Dudgeon Point which is expected to be available in 2017.