MAILBOX

December 2014 Newsletter

MINING UPDATE

MANDALONGSUBSIDENCE MANAGEMENT UPDATE

Mandalong commenced extraction of Longwall 17 in early November. This is the 17th longwall block to be extracted since the commencement of longwall mining in 2005. This equates to almost two longwall blocks being extracted per year. Longwall 18 is expected to commence operation in mid 2015 and continue mining for the remainder of 2015.

Current mining is now located to the south-east of Browns Road and will progress towards the Olney State Forest and Chapmans Lane.

The Subsidence Management Plan (SMP) application for Longwalls 18 to 21 was approved by NSW Trade and Investment – Division of Resources & Energy (DRE) in July 2014. The development of SMP’s is a lengthy and involved process, taking approximately 12 months to conduct the environmental studies, impact assessments and to consult with all landowners’ to develop their Property Subsidence Management Plans.

Mandalong Mine will commence the next SMP application for Longwalls 22 to 24 in early 2015. If you have any questions regarding the SMP or mining process please contact the Mining Approvals Coordinator, Phil Enright on 4973 0948 or free call 1800 730 919.

MANDALONG EXPLORATION UPDATESurface exploration drilling has been completed for 2014 with the completion of three boreholes aimed at delineating the igneous sill boundary and assessing the impact on Longwalls 19 - 21.

The three boreholes all intersected the sill intrusion at the top of the working seam. Maingate 18 development drivage has encountered the sill in a small area of approximately 100m with minimal impacts on mining.

A review of the location of the remaining 10 boreholes (four holes located in the Olney State Forest), will be conducted in the coming month. If any of these holes need to be relocated a variation of the 2013 Review of Environmental Factors (REF) will need to be submitted to the DRE.

All of the remaining holes will be used to better define the location of the igneous sill. They will be located around Little Valley Road and the end of Tobins Road.

MANDALONG SOUTHERN EXTENSION PROJECT - Approval Process

The Response to the Submissions document was sent to the Department of Planning & Environment (formerly the Department of Planning & Infrastructure) in April 2014. In June a request for further information was received from DP&E and the Residual Agencies Issues Report was submitted in July 2014. Those reports are available on the Department of Planning website (http://majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au). Since then the DP&E have been conducting their assessment of the Project and preparing draft conditions of consent which are now complete and will be forwarded to the Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) for their consideration in early 2015. It is anticipated that there will be a public PAC hearing in the first quarter of 2015.

The purpose of the public hearing is to give interested parties an opportunity to present their views to the Commission. The hearings are open to the public but only registered parties will be allocated a period of time to speak. Notification of the PAC hearing will be in the local newspaper, on the PAC website and made directly to any parties who have made a submission about the Project. After the hearing, the PAC will complete their assessment and make a determination.

MANDALONG SOUTH SURFACE SITE Detailed design work has commenced for the Mandalong South Surface Site (MSSS) which will service the underground extension to the mine. A conceptual layout for the site is shown which includes an access road to the site, two ventilation shafts 350m deep, two ventilation fans, hydrocarbon tanks, stonedust and ballast storage, a nitrogen unit, compressor sheds, and water tanks. Boreholes have been drilled near the proposed shaft locations and the core sent for geotechnical analysis to predict likely drilling conditions. An investigation into electricity supply has been completed which identified that power can be supplied through the underground workings, such that a surface easement is no longer required. Design work for the access road and MSSS will continue in 2015.

The plant will be located adjacent to the mine’s main fans and gas flare infrastructure, with a conceptual layout provided below.

his R&D Project is currently in the initial planning phases, and will progress to the detailed design stage in 2015. Centennial Mandalong will apply for development consent for the project in 2015, which will include an environmental assessment of the potential impacts to our close neighbours and the environment. The successful completion of the Project would see an approximate 30% reduction in annual greenhouse emissions from the Mandalong Mine site and provide a technology option to the broader underground mining industry.

VENTILATION AIR METHANE REGENERATIVE AFTER BURNER (VAM RAB)The VAM RAB demonstration plant has been heated up on a number of occasions during the last six months and some minor configuration changes made. Now that LW17 is up and running, it is expected to complete its commissioning processes over the next three months. To build on these current research and development (R&D) efforts into ways of reducing dilute methane from coal mine ventilation, Centennial has proposed a project to safely connect a commercial scale VAMRAB to one of its mine fans. The project has received funding from the Commonwealth Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism through the Coal Mining Abatement Technology Support Package (CMATSP).

CMATSP aims to support industry efforts to develop and demonstrate technologies that will provide future solutions to safely reduce fugitive methane emissions from coal mines. Matching funding has been received from ACA Low Emission Technologies (ACALET). This is an industry body that administers the COAL21 Fund, the voluntary levy paid by black coal producers to research clean coal technologies. The $30m project will build and test a VAM RAB plant that will be able to process between 100 and 150 m3/s of mine air and a safety duct to allow for a safe connection to the mine. It will be a first of type in Australia.

In June 2014 Centennial Mandalong and Macquarie Manufacturing completed the installation of 200mm thick acoustic absorption cladding to the Cooranbong Coal Handling Plant (CHP) and Rotary Breaker Building. The objective of the project was to reduce the noise emissions associated with coal handling from these buildings.

In August 2014 SLR Consulting conducted the annual noise compliance survey at Cooranbong. The noise survey has identified that noise contributions from the Cooranbong Services Site were compliant with the development consent and EPL noise criteria.

The noise suppressant cladding installed in 2014 on the CHP and Rotary Breaker Building has resulted in a significant reduction in noise emissions from the Cooranbong Services Site.

COORANBONG SERVICES SITE COAL HANDLING PLANT CLADDING PROJECT

The Northern Coal Logistics Project Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was placed on public exhibition for a period of one month commencing Friday 17 October 2014 and ending on Monday 17 November 2014. Submissions received during this public exhibition period are currently being reviewed by the Project team. A response to issues raised in any submissions will be prepared by the Project team in consultation with Northern Coal Services. This response to submissions will be provided to the Department of Planning and Environment and made available on both the Department of Planning and Environment website (www.planning.nsw.gov.au) and the Centennial Coal website (www.centennialcoal.com.au). If you have any questions in regards to the Project, please contact the Newstan Colliery Community Information Line on 1800 247 662.

NORTHERN COAL LOGISTICS PROJECT

200mm Thick Ritek Cladding

Cooranbong Rotary Breaker BuildingCooranbong Coal Handling Plant

TRANSMISSION LINE TL24 RELOCATION

As discussed in the EIS Centennial Mandalong have been liaising with TransGrid regarding three 330kV transmission lines within the Project area. Tension towers, which are those where the line is fixed to the towers and there is usually a change in direction of the line or the line is crossing over another line, have very low tolerance to tilt and strain due to the lines being tightened or slackened and the instability of the structure due to the change in line angle. A majority of the tension towers have been protected by the mine design however some on TL24 could not be avoided. TransGrid completed a Feasibility Study in 2013 which identified that a portion of TL24 would need to be relocated so that the new section of line can tolerate the predicted levels of subsidence. TransGrid have progressed to the next stage, a Network Modification Scoping Study, which will determine the proposed route for the relocation and the location of the new towers. This report is expected in early 2015.

Relocation of the transmission line could not be included in the Mandalong Southern Extension Project EIS as TransGrid had not determined the route for the relocation. Therefore an application to modify the new development consent to include the transmission line relocation will be made by Centennial Mandalong under s#96(2) of the Environmental Protection and Assessment Act 1979.

Once the final route is determined by TransGrid environmental impact assessments will be carried out and an EIS prepared and submitted to DP&E.

It will include the impact of vegetation clearing and construction of the new section of line, as well as the reclamation of the redundant section of line and associated towers.

Timing for the submission of the modification application is reliant on both TransGrid’s technical design of the relocation and the approval of the Mandalong Southern Extension Project, but it is expected to be lodged in the first or second quarter of 2015.

If anyone wishes to learn more about the Mandalong Southern Extension Project or Transmission Line TL24 Project they can contact the Project team on 1800 731 966.

Plan TL24

www.centennialcoal.com.au

Morisset Street Beat Festival Centennial Stall

1800 730 919

MANDALONGCOMMUNITY INFORMATION LINE

LOCAL COMMUNITY SUPPORTMandalong continues to actively engage with and invest in the Community in which it operates. The mine has supported numerous community organisations and events.

NAIDOC Day Celebration at Blacksmiths

Sponsorship of Morisset United Soccer Club

Lake Macquarie City Council School Environment Awards