Engineering at Coal Mines

Queensland has a rich and vast deposit of high-quality coal resources with over 34 billion tonnes of raw coal having been identified. It boasts a combination of thermal coal for power generation and over 8 billion tonnes of coking coal suitable for high quality steel milling (from Dept. of Natural Resources and Mines). Coal is extracted from the ground using both open-cut and underground mining operations and is then typically subject to further processing at Coal Handling and Processing Plants (CHPP) before being transported via conveyor, truck, rail or ship (or combination of these) to the buyer.

Orana Engineering has built a strong reputation within the coal industry, offering electrical, mechanical, structural and control systems engineering support to a wide range of clients spread throughout the Bowen and Surat basins. Our Townsville, Chinchilla and Mackay offices are placed to offer local support for operations based in the Bowen and Surat Basins and to support the expansion of the coal industry into the Galilee Basin.

Our engineering services including design, project management, design drafting, revisions and drawing management are intended to support the fixed plant and surface infrastructure of mining operations including the CHPP and associated services such as onsite water treatment plants. We also support the underground coal mining operations providing conveyor installation designs and mine dewatering designs. As the industry is governed by specific legislation including the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act and Regulation, it is important that engineering consultants are fluent with these regulations, which Orana Engineering is.  Further information on the Act and Regulations can be found here.

Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999
Coal Mining Safety and Health Regulation 2017

Our engineering experience and expertise within the coal industry gives our personnel a first-hand understanding of the process and site practicalities. Explore the case studies below to see the services that we have offered to our clients in the coal sector.

Orana Engineering Coal Mining Engineering

UG Conveyor Installations - MG Mechanical Installation

Detailing the installation of mechanical equipment and conveyor structure is one of the final steps for completing a maingate drive-head design. Installations designed by Orana Engineering (MG32, MG33, MG33C, MG34, MG35 and MG36) for Glencore’s Oaky No.1 underground coal mine typically detail the arrangement of drives, transfer stations, take-up units, maintenance equipment and overhead structure to support the carry belt.

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UG Conveyor Installations - MG Mechanical Installation

Site DCS Support

Glencore's Oaky Creek Coal (OCC) Coal Handling and Preparation Plant (CHPP) utilises a Yokogawa Distributed Control System (DCS) for control and monitoring of their operation.  The system also incorporates Yokogawa’s OPC server and exaquantum data historian.  In addition, OCC utilises a number of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) for specific operational purposes, with a number of the PLCs interfaced back to the DCS for control and monitoring functions.

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Site DCS Support

Sewage Treatment Plant Refurbishment

To increase productivity as well as maintaining compliance with current legislative standards, Glencore Coal employed the services of Orana Engineering to design, manage and oversee the installation of the electrical portion of their sewage treatment plant upgrade.

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UG Conveyor Installations - MG Civil Installation

The site engineers at Glencore’s Oaky No. 1 underground coal mine have requested the assistance of Orana Engineering to determine the extent of the civil work required to effectively utilise the drive-head equipment in newly mined chambers for conveyor installations for MG32, 33, 33C, 34, 35 and 36.

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UG Conveyor Installations - MG Civil Installation

CHPP Conveyor Capacity Audit

Vale Carborough Downs Coal Mine (CDCM) required details of the current and possible future capacities of their Module 1 and 2 product conveyors at their coal processing plant in Central Queensland.  As a result, Orana Engineering was engaged by the CDCM site engineering and maintenance team to perform the necessary site visits, calculations and reporting.  The study consisted of 8 plant conveyors and outlined high level recommendations of modifications required for the plant to achieve higher tonnages.

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CHPP Conveyor Capacity Audit

Electrical Specifications

To ensure site consistency of electrical design and installation standards, as well as compliance with relevant Australian standards and state legislation, Glencore Oaky Creek Coal’s Electrical Engineering Manager (EEM) engaged the services of Orana Engineering for the preparation of new site electrical specifications.

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Electrical Specifications

Treated Water Boost Pumps

Glencore's Oaky Creek Coal (OCC) operation uses recycled water treated within an onsite RO plant to provide treated water for use by various operations on site. OCC recognised an opportunity to use this clean treated water for water supply to critical equipment such as Horizontal Belt Filters (HBF), improving the quality of water used for equipment, reducing downtime and maintenance requirements associated with poor quality water, in-turn improving the efficiency of the operation of the equipment.

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Treated Water Boost Pumps

MG07 Conveyor – Development Conveyor

Carborough Downs Coal Mine is an underground operation located in Central Queensland that utilises conveyors to transport mined coal to the surface for processing. As operations progress and new longwall headings are mined, new conveyor installations are also required. Designing a conveyor installation involves 3 major stages: the drive-head chamber design, the civil design, and the mechanical arrangement design.

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MG07 Conveyor – Development Conveyor

MG07 Conveyor – Civil Design

Carborough Downs Coal Mine is an underground operation located in Central Queensland that utilises conveyors to transport mined coal to the surface for processing. As operations progress and new longwall headings are mined, new conveyor installations are also required. Designing a conveyor installation involves 3 major stages: the drive-head chamber design, the civil design, and the mechanical arrangement design.

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MG07 Conveyor – Civil Design

MG08 Development Conveyor

Carborough Downs Coal Mine is an underground operation located in Central Queensland that utilises conveyors to transport mined coal to the surface for processing. As operations progress and new longwall headings are mined, new conveyor installations are also required. Orana Engineering was engaged by Carborough Downs to design a new longwall drive-head chamber and conveyor installation.

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MG08 Development Conveyor

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