Maules Creek Coal Project is located in the heart of the Gunnedah Basin and is within close proximity of critical infrastructure. It is approximately 18km north-east of Boggabri and only 16km from the main railway line servicing the coal terminals at the Port of Newcastle, which is 360km south-east of the project.
Maules Creek’s current Resources are expected to support a large open cut mining operation for in excess of 30 years at an average saleable coal production rate of approximately 10.8Mtpa. Subject to the timely delivery of all necessary approvals, Aston expects that Maules Creek will be commissioned and first coal production will commence in mid calendar year 2013, with saleable production exceeding 10Mtpa from FY2016 onwards.
Whitehaven's most recent production statistics can be found in our Quarterly Reports released to the Australian Securities Exchange. You can find the most recent Quarterly Report here.
The Maules Creek Project is considered to be one of only a few remaining tier 1 undeveloped coal assets in Australia. It is also one of the largest coal deposits in Australia with 362Mt of recoverable reserves.
Joint Venture Participants
| Joint Venture Participant | Interest |
|---|---|
| Whitehaven* | 85.0% |
| ITOCHU | 15% |
*Aston has entered into an agreement to sell a 10% interest in the Maules Creek Project to J-Power. This agreement is conditional on (amongst other things) the consent of Aston's existing joint venture partner ITOCHU. As at the date of this presentation, ITOCHU's consent and waiver of its pre-emptive rights has been obtained, subject to the asset sale completing in its current form on or before 30 June 2012 or such later date as is agreed by the parties. If the transaction completes, Aston's interest in the Maules Creek Project will be reduced from 85% to a 75% interest.