The company signed an initial compressed natural gas (CNG) supply contract with Thiess to support the ongoing trial of diesel/gas hybrid mine-trucks at Curragh Coal Mine.
State Gas has entered into an initial offtake agreement with mining services company Thiess for delivery of CNG to the Curragh Coal Mining operation, near Blackwater in Central Queensland.
Initial CNG supply volumes will be small to support an orderly ramp up of production from the CNG Facility and to establish efficient loading and unloading processes for the virtual pipeline at Curragh.
Ongoing success of the trial and progressive optimisation of loading and unloading using the Virtual Pipeline, could ultimately support up to 100 gigajoules (GJ) of CNG per day, for each mine truck included in the trial.
The trial will initially support two trucks, with a view to converting more engines to hybrid technology subject to Thiess and the Curragh mine-owner’s satisfaction with the Trial results,
The provision of CNG using the Virtual Pipeline is a bundled gas supply solution, which reflects significant added value when compared to raw natural gas sourced from the traditional pipeline network.
Raw coal seam gas from Rougemont 2/3 is processed by the CNG Facility to meet gas specifications and pressures required for the efficient operation of the hybrid mine-truck engines in the Trial.
The ability for State Gas to supply increasing quantities of CNG to a location on the Curragh mine-site where the mine-trucks can be safely loaded is a unique aspect of State Gas’ value proposition.
As part of the CNG supply arrangement, it is the intention of both companies to work together to increase the volume of gas supplied during the trial and investigate opportunities to include additional trucks and extend the length of the supply arrangement.
Subject to the success of this initial supply arrangement and the trial, State Gas is set to identify other opportunities where the company CNG could be applied to support similar project in the mining sector.
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