Dragline 27 (DRE27) AC Upgrade at SWC Mine

Dragline 27 (DRE27) AC Upgrade at SWC Mine is an industrial and commercial emissions reduction project located at the South Walker Creek Mine, 35km west of Nebo in Central Queensland's Bowen Basin. It was registered in October 2022, and while its specific spatial area is unrecorded, it operates within the footprint of the existing open-cut mine.

Industrial and commercial emissions reduction projects involve improving energy efficiency to lower direct or indirect emissions. Under the standard requirements of the methodology, proponents must successfully modify, remove, or replace existing emissions-producing equipment, or change the way it is controlled and operated. In this case, the project focuses on upgrading the electric motors of Dragline 27 to more efficient alternating current (AC) drives, significantly reducing the enormous electricity requirements typical of heavy dragline excavation.

The Nebo and broader Bowen Basin area is widely known for large-scale metallurgical coal mining operations alongside beef cattle grazing on native and improved pastures. The region experiences a sub-tropical climate with distinct wet and dry seasons and moderate but highly variable rainfall. Local soils generally consist of vertosols (cracking clays), carbonaceous shales, and alluvial soils near watercourses, which can sometimes present agricultural limitations due to restricted moisture-holding capacity and water erosion.

The South Walker Creek Mine itself produces high-quality Pulverized Coal Injection (PCI) coal for steelmaking and is wholly owned by the proponent, Stanmore SMC Pty Ltd. Interestingly, the mine site is also a major paleontological landmark; in 2008, the traditional owners, the Barada Barna people, discovered an extraordinary deposit of tropical ice-age megafauna fossils within the creekbed, uncovering the preserved bones of giant extinct marsupials, terrestrial crocodiles, and giant goannas.