December 2, 2024 - New South Wales mining firm Australian Pacific Coal (APC) is planning to ship its first load of unwashed coal from the underground Dartbrook mine in December 2024, two months after reopening its Hunter Valley facility.

APC will focus on producing thermal coal at the mine, and is also planning to test the coking potential of deposits around the site in early 2025. The company recently announced plans to produce 20,000t of coal at Dartbrook by November 2024, ramping up to 2.4mn t/yr by late 2026.

APC is planning to increase coal production at Dartbrook during a period of weakening thermal coal demand. Coal exports from the Port Waratah Coal Terminals at the Port of Newcastle fell on the year in November for the second consecutive month. The Australian Office of the Chief Economist announced in September it was forecasting a 21.6pc drop in thermal coal exports between the July 2023 to June 2024 and 2025-26 financial years.

Dartbrook sits alongside the Hunter Valley Rail Network, a set of lines connecting dozens of coal mines in New South Wales to the Port of Newcastle. However, APC will not be able to use the lines until it negotiates an access agreement with network operator the Australian Rail Track Corporation. The company must also sign agreements with terminal operators at the Port of Newcastle before it can ship coal out of New South Wales.

APC's original Dartbrook resource consent was scheduled to expire in December 2022, but New South Wales' Land and Environment Court granted the company a five-year consent extension in late 2021. The company had been appealing for an extension for two years after an initial unsuccessful attempt. APC is currently working on another application to extend its consent by six years through to December 2033.

APC's export preparations come alongside managerial changes at the firm. The company announced the resignation of its chief executive and managing director, Ayten Saridas, the same day it updated investors on Dartbrook.