A COAL mine could be up and running in Bacchus Marsh by 2018 at the earliest.
Mining partners Exergen and Mantle Mining announced this morning the results of a scoping study which found the project is economically viable and would generate substantial local employment.
The potential project would require an initial capital investment of $2 billion and a mine life of more than 25 years.
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However, Exergen chief executive officer Trevor Bourne said the company planned to complete a feasibility study on the project by the end of 2015, and if it delivered positive results, and subject to success at the Latrobe Valley pre-commercial demonstration facility, production could potentially start at Bacchus Marsh in 2018.
The study also found the mine would generate an average of 900 direct construction jobs – peaking at 1300 in the Bacchus Marsh and Geelong areas, including 400 permanent jobs at the mine and 90 at a $70 million Continuous Hydro-Thermal Dewatering (CHTD) plant, to be built in the Latrobe Valley.
The project is also estimated to create 3600 indirect manufacturing jobs around Australia for supply of goods and services.
However, Mr Bourne said the study was a preliminary estimate based on limited information and more detailed analysis would be needed over the next few years.
“This study has confirmed that the Bacchus Marsh Coal project has the potential to be profitable and to bring major economic gains to the local community and the state of Victoria.
“We are not talking about a token number of jobs but a very large number of well-paid permanent positions that would make a real difference to the local economy.”
The scope of work for the Bacchus Marsh scoping study was for a Full Scale Plant (FSP) capable of producing up to 20 mtpa of CHTD processed product capable of being shipped to India.
