The opencut mine, located 100km west of Mackay and 35km northeast of Nebo, has increased capacity by one-third three years after its opening – from 6Mtpa to 8Mtpa.

The expansion project included upgrading of the coal preparation plant and new equipment.

The mine now boasts a new dragline, five new 240t haul trucks, a new excavator, five new dozers and two drills.

The coal preparation plant now has the capacity for 8Mtpa and according to Rio, with further supporting expansion work, could produce up to 12Mtpa.

Work on the preparation plant also took into account the drought conditions currently being experienced by the region, with additional water recycling improvements inbuilt, according to Rio’s newsletter Mine Matters.

Hail Creek is a joint venture between Rio Tinto Coal Australia (82%), Marubeni Coal (6.66%), Sumisho Coal Development (3.34%) and Nippon Steel Corporation (8%).

The mine’s coking coal is sold to steelmakers in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, India, Europe, China and Brazil.