The MACH Energy Australia managing director was the keynote speaker at Tuesday’s Muswellbrook Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) breakfast at the Muswellbrook RSL Club, providing an update on the mine adjacent to Bengalla.

The company signed a binding agreement to purchase the coal deposit from Rio Tinto on January 26, 2016.

“There’s been a fair bit happening over the past two years, even though we adopted a ‘steady, steady approach’,” Mr Winter admitted.

“We’re about to move into our offices this month, the rail line will be completed in March/April and we expect coal to come through the system not long after that.

“You can’t wipe the grin off our faces.

“We’ve already spent more than $500 million on the project.

“It’s a lot of money; but it’s also expected.

“Now, our real focus is on the rail works – and getting it all up and running.”

Mr Winter said the operation was approved to produce up to 10.5 million tonnes of coal.

And, everything is “progressing well”.

“When we purchased the asset in 2016, our goal was to produce coal by mid-2018,” he explained.

“We’ll hit that mark, too.

“Then we’ll be in full production in 2019.”

Due to its high quality and low impurities, the Mount Pleasant Operation is targeting clean energy coal that will be used in some of the world’s most advanced and highly-efficient power plants, enabling lower global emissions.

That ethos stems from the local site as well.

“Our responsibilities are first and foremost,” Mr Winter said.

“Monitoring the environment, along with noise and dust levels, is a primary focus for MACH Energy.

“Four-and-a-half thousand hectares [at Muswellbrook] is a lot of land.

“We need to look after it.

“Already, we’ve implemented some terrific innovations.

“We’re also looking at solar projects in the future.

“That’s pretty exciting for us.”