Coppabella Coal Project

Sedgman operated this coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP) for Macarthur Coal in 1998 until handing over in 2013 to Peabody Energy who had acquired it several years earlier.

Sedgman had initially undertaken resource evaluation, design, construction to commissioning of a 600 t/h plant. Coppabella produces 8.5% ash washed product for the export Pulverised Coal Injection (PCI) market. Commencing production in February 1999, high export demand for the mine’s PCI product quickly required progressive upgrades including the incorporation of a flotation circuit.

Fast-tracking the project enabled first washed coal to be produced eight months after the start of detailed engineering design. Sedgman initially developed and operated a 500 t ROM dump hopper, two-stage crushing system and surge bin, single module dense medium cyclone/spirals processing plant with provision for raw coal bypass, product stockpile with below ground reclaim system, and 3,000 t/h train loading.

Sedgman has since undertaken progressive upgrades from the initial 600 t/h to 800 t/h and continued to operate the plant until 2013, providing a benchmark for efficiency, availability and throughput capability for a single module coal preparation plant. Sedgman facilitated the upgrades without major expansion or equipment duplication.