TerraCom through its wholly owned subsidiary Orion Mining has successfully recommissioned the Blair Athol coal mine and is on track to deliver first sales in August.

The company said it would then quickly ramp up to a production rate of 2Mtpa in the fourth quarter of the year.

Contractor Link Mining Services has provided $9.2 million to fund recommissioning and ramp-up
to full production.

“The dragline has been operationally tested and is in the process of being brought up to full production levels
with the existing spares on site,” Link managing director Brad Marshall said.

“The operation has been progressively recommissioning the remainder of the mobile fleet and bringing all of these online ready for operational activity. The CHPP (Coal Handling and Preparation Plant) has been fully assessed and a recommissioning project commenced to ensure it will be
online and operational for the first scheduled coal wash.”

The funding from Link has enabled TerraCom to acquire from Sedgman the CHPP located at Blair Athol.

TerraCom said this would enable the company to meet customer requirements in various segments of the thermal coal market to
maximise value of the coal produced at the Blair Athol mine.

TerraCom acquired the mothballed Blair Athol site last year for $1 and the Queensland Government is receiving $79.6 million from the previous operators – Blair Athol Coal Joint Venture (BACJV) – to meet the  mine’s rehabilitation requirements.

TerraCom has undertaken to commence more than 50ha of site rehabilitation while bringing the mine back into production.

TerraCom announced last year that Link Mining Services had been awarded the contract for Blair Athol operations and would stump up $11.6 million for material mining and beneficiation recommencement costs at the site.