Olive Downs has already assembled the key elements required to commence construction following the grant of the Bowen Basin project’s mining leases, Pembroke Resources says.
This includes securing access to power, water, rail and port, even as finance and offtake partners are finalised.
The mining leases granted today represented the final major approval hurdle to commence the first stage of the project, 40km south-east of Moranbah.
Related: Pembroke Resources General Manager Blair Richardson and ESG Manager Melanie Saul are presenting the business and the Olive Downs Complex at a Connecting Industry Luncheon (in-person and online) in Gladstone on May 17. For more information, connect here now.
On social media, Pembroke chairman and chief executive officer Barry Tudor hailed it as a red-letter day for the company.
“Taking an asset of this scale & significance from exploration EPCs through to a fully approved mine has had its challenges, but it is extremely satisfying to have reached this milestone in just four years,” he wrote.
Pembroke Resources formed in 2014 with a funding commitment from private equity firm Denham Capital and a specific brief to target metallurgical coal.
At its core was a group of executives with Australian coal industry experience, particularly with Gloucester Coal and Noble Group.
Mr Tudor told iQ Industry Queensland in 2016 that the group had been on the hunt for nothing short of a world-class metallurgical coal asset when they stitched together a $120 million deal for three Bowen Basin projects.
The Olive Downs package, acquired from Peabody Energy and CITIC Resources Holdings subsidiaries, gave them a chance to develop a major operation from scratch and do things its own way, Mr Tudor said.
The Olive Downs project boasts a JORC resource of some 838 million tonnes, including 514Mt of open-cut JORC reserves of metallurgical coal.
Pembroke describes it as being widely acknowledged as a potential tier one steelmaking coal project.
“Our aim has been to anticipate and exceed requirements in relation to the environment, the local community and local jobs,” Mr Tudor said today.
“Olive Downs will provide much needed local stimulus in the recovery from the impact of COVID-19, with significant economic benefits for Queensland, including the creation of up to 500 jobs during construction and 1000 jobs when in full-scale production.”
This article first appeared in Industry Queensland.
