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Coal Mining
Anglesea's brown coal was deposited about 40 million years ago in two distinct layers, separated by around 30 to 40 metres of sands and clays. Coal reserves are estimated at around 120 million tonnes, with an average coal thickness of 27 metres.
The coal is a high quality brown coal, with a heat value of just over 15,000 joules per gram. It takes about one tonne of Anglesea coal to generate 1.3 megawatt hours of power. Around 1.1 million tonnes of brown coal is consumed each year in the power station.
Brown coal is mined at Anglesea using the open cut method. Some 1.8 million cubic metres of overburden is removed from above the coal reserves each year, and transported to areas that have already been mined, in readiness for rehabilitation.
Both coal and overburden is removed using 100 tonne excavators and 60 tonne dump trucks. The coal trucks are fitted with special high-volume bodies to accommodate the relatively lightweight nature of the coal. Mined areas are excavated to an average depth of 60 metres.
Once the coal has been extracted from the mine it is trucked to the Power Station.
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