Adelaide Brighton Cement took up tenure of the Moorlands lignite deposit during September 1976 in order to conduct confirmatory drilling of the published coal resource, to prepare a mining study for Lobe 'E', and overall, to assess the coal's...
Adelaide Brighton Cement took up tenure of the Moorlands lignite deposit during September 1976 in order to conduct confirmatory drilling of the published coal resource, to prepare a mining study for Lobe 'E', and overall, to assess the coal's viability for use in firing cement kilns at Birkenhead. This work included conducting a proximate analysis of the coal quality (coal ash distribution, sulphur distribution, volatile matter and chloride content determinations, and calculation of the coal's heating value on a dry basis). An in-house interpretation of geophysical well logs was done to map the high ash (carbonaceous clay) bands within the Lobe 'E' coal seam. Consultants were retained to prepare hydrogeological and geotechnical advice concerning critical aspects of the planned open cut coal mine. A commissioned mining feasibility study showed that a coal mine producing 400,000 tonnes per annum over 20 years could be established on the deposit, but it also made clear that using the coal as a furnace fuel would be uneconomic compared with using imported black coal, when the costs of processing and transporting the mined Moorlands coal are factored in. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that due to its high sulphur content, the Moorlands lignite cannot be used alone as furnace fuel, but must instead be burnt in combination with a low sulphur fuel.
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