Premier Coal is a successful, well-resourced company operating in an area of abundant existing infrastructure. A long track record of reliably producing consistent quality coal, in a safe and environmentally sound manner, has given Premier Coal a firm foundation for supplying energy well into the 21st Century. With large reserves of coal, a modern mining operation, highly trained employees and effective management systems, Premier Coal can meet all of our customers’ needs.
Premier Coal runs an efficient, sustainable business and is proud to be a part of Collie and the broader WA community.
The Company has over 60 years of experience in both open cut and underground mining in the Collie Basin. In 1995, the operations were consolidated into one new, high-capacity and high-efficiency mine, the Premier Mine, with modern systems and technology. The Premier Mine is the most advanced coal mine in the State.
The Premier coal deposit has large reserves, capable of supporting the current equipment production capacity of 5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) for over 30 years. For this, the mine moves up to 30 million bank cubic metres (or 60 million tonnes) of overburden. The Company also has large reserves elsewhere in the Collie region.
Premier Coal is an innovative organisation, continually looking for improvement. This is illustrated by a dramatic productivity increase since Premier mine commenced and a continual driving down of the cost of our operations.
The Premier Mine is a flexible operation, extracting a wide selection of coal seams to enable consistent production of a premium low-ash, sub bituminous black coal with excellent combustion and ash properties. The coal also has low sulphur content and generates low levels of noxious gases during combustion. The coal produced is highly competitive cost-wise with natural gas and other coal supplies.
The coal has been technically investigated to ensure that the product may be transported and consumed without difficulty. Along with power generation, the coal has other important metallurgical applications and Premier Coal conducts ongoing research to produce alternative value-added coal products.
The mine has a modern 240-tonne truck and large shovel fleet, and state-of-the-art crushing, blending and train/truck loading facilities, which includes online coal quality monitoring and sampling. It has all necessary infrastructure to allow the shipment of coal either locally or to overseas markets.
Premier’s location has several advantages being close to existing transport corridors including conveyor, road, rail and shipping. A large investment in the power generation industry already exists at Collie with a combined 1,310MW of installed capacity at the Muja and Collie A power stations. The Premier Mine is located a short distance from these stations.
A long history of mining has produced dedicated and skilled people to carry the business forward. Most of our employees live in the nearby, well-serviced town of Collie (population around 9,000) which provides many advantages to both the employees and the Company. Collie is also close to the major regional City of Bunbury, a 45-minute drive, and the WA capital Perth, just over a two-hour drive.
Premier Coal has a long history of reliably producing a highly consistent product that meets customer expectations.
Our customers can also rely on Premier Coal to run a safe and environmentally responsible, greenhouse-efficient operation. The Company has been well recognised as a leader in environmental management and has a certified ISO 14001 environmental management system. Premier is a leader in mine rehabilitation and has set new standards in mine-site closure through research and designing in value-added future community assets such as water sports recreation areas, a motor sports - testing – driver training complex and aquaculture farms.
Our safety systems are also certified with accreditation under the standard AS/NZS 4801.