Anglo American switches on new met coal mine in Australia

Anglo American (LSE: AAL), which divested its thermal coal mines last year after pressure from investors, has achieved the first longwall shear at its Aquila metallurgical coal mine near Central Queensland, Australia.

The milestone marks the project’s final stages of construction and commissioning, on schedule and within the budgeted US$226 million, the company said.

The new mine extends the life of Anglo’s existing Capcoal underground operations by seven years, after the company’s nearby Grasstree mine reached its end of life in recent weeks.

Aquila, a 70-30 joint venture between Anglo American and Mitsui & Co., will have a total average yearly saleable production of around five million tonnes of premium quality hard coking coal.

“The mine will use our existing infrastructure at our Capcoal complex and support around 600 ongoing operational roles for our Queensland-based workforce, including providing continuity of employment for our Grasstree workforce,” metallurgical coal boss, Tyler Mitchelson, said in the statement.

Anglo American spun out its South African thermal coal operations and sold its stake in a Colombian mine to Glencore (LSE: GLEN) last year after shareholder calls to ditch the polluting fossil fuel to meet emissions targets.

Unlike its peers, the miner decided to hold on to its metallurgical coal assets, a key commodity in the making of steel.

Last year, Anglo American churned out 14.9 million tonnes of met coal, just shy of its 15 million tonne target, thanks mostly to increased production at its lower grade Dawson mine. The move offset lower production at the high-grade Moranbah and the delayed restart of Grosvenor, which was shut following a gas ignition in May 2020.