Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Kazuhisa Nakano; hereinafter referred to as "Idemitsu") announces that its subsidiary, Idemitsu Australia Resources Pty Ltd. (Head Office: Brisbane, President: Kosuke Yamamoto) has decided to conduct underground mining at the Ensham Coal Mine in Queensland State in which the company owns an 85% interest.
Since the start of production at the Ensham Coal Mine in 1994 as an open-cut mine, phased expansion has been implemented with the result that the production of 7.6 million tons (Idemitsu’s equity: 6.5 million tons) of steaming coal was produced last year. Although, up to the present, coal has been mined by open-cut mining, it has also been decided to develop underground mine in response to the increasing depth of the coal resources. Since underground mining method directly mines the coal, this makes it possible to produce coal more competitively, compared to open-cut mining method that necessitates the stripping overburden covering the coal resources, once it reaches certain level. It is expected medium and long-term stable operation by underground mining. Idemitsu’s investment will be 140 million Australian dollars (Approximately 11.8 billion yen*).
* Conversion rate: 1 Australian dollar = Approximately 84 yen
At the present time, applications have been made for final permits and licenses needed for expansion of the mining rights, and development is scheduled to be launched once the permits and licenses have been received.
In addition to the Ensham mine, Idemitsu Australia Resources currently holds the wholly-owned the Muswellbrook mine, the Boggabri mine and the 30% equity of Tarrawonga mine, which are located in New South Wales.The total production of these four coal mines for FY2009 reached approximately 9.7 million tons.
To meet the globally-expanding demand for coal, Idemitsu will continue to strengthen its coal mining business in Australia by taking steps necessary such as expansion of the Boggabri mine.
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For inquiries regarding this press release, please contact
Ms. Iinuma
PR Section IR&PR Office
Idemitsu Kosan, Co., Ltd.
Tel: +81-3-3213-3115
