Construction of Stage One of the third coal export terminal for the Port of Newcastle has been completed, with the terminal commencing operations on 3 May 2010.

While the approval is for a loader up to 66-million tonnes a year capacity NCIG is developing the site in stages. Stage 1 of the project has the capacity to export up to 30 million tonnes a year and the NCIG Board is considering further expansion of the facility because of strong export demand. The new coal terminal operation on Kooragang Island will significantly increase the export capacity of the Hunter Valley coal chain to around 140 million tonnes a year.

Partners in the NCIG project include BHP Billiton (through Hunter Valley Energy Coal), Centennial Coal, Donaldson Coal, Peabody Energy Australia Coal, Felix Resources (Yancoal) and Whitehaven Coal . All share the primary goal of maximising the productivity of the coal chain and keep up with strong buyer demand.

Construction on site began in February 2008 and the 136-hectare site has provided a significant economic boost for the Hunter region and New South Wales in the past two years, with $700-million in tenders awarded to local firms. Over 4,600 people have been inducted to the construction site, with over 800 working at any one time.

With over 3.5 million man hours injected into the project, it is the commitment of the workforce that made this project such a success.

The site consists of rail sidings and rail loop, one dump station and a sampling station. The inbound system is rated at 8,500 tonnes per hour. There are three stockyards and two combined stacker reclaimers that have a reclaim capacity of 8,500 tonnes per hour. In the outbound area the site has one buffer bin, a sample station, one ship loader and two wharves with ship loading capacity of 10,500 tonnes per hour.

NCIG is pleased to have the opportunity to build new infrastructure capacity to significantly grow the volume of coal that can be exported from Newcastle.