Tata Steel along with Brazilian mining giant Vale and other joint venture partners, is undertaking a massive expansion of the Carborough Downs coal mine near Moranbah in Central Queensland, Australia and this is because of its efforts  to ensure raw material security. They are planning to invest around $379.41 million (about Rs 1,555 crore).The underground mine of Carborough Downs,is operated by Carborough Downs Coal Management.Around 80 per cent of the mine is owned by Vale and its joint venture partners, including Tata Steel, Nippon Steel Corporation, Posco, JFE Steel and JFE Shoji.

JFE Steel and JFE Shoji individually hold 2.5 per cent,while Tata Steel, Nippon Steel and Posco own 5 per cent each in the Carborough Downs coal mine and the rest is owned by Vale. The estimated capital investment is A$401 million ($379.41 million). The construction is scheduled to commence in May 2008 and the
commissioning of large-scale and new mining equipment (Longwall) is expected by mid 2009. The Carborough Downs coal mine began production in August 2006.

This investment will then yield 3.7 million tonnes of coking and PCI coal from the third quarter of 2009 and the annual production will be 4.9 millions tonnes Run of Mine (RoM) coal.By making the decision of expansion of production at the Carborough Down coal mine in Australia,Tata Steel gets an opportunity
to explore larger areas for coal deposits and this will also be a potential source of partially meeting the company’s raw material requirements and enhancing the long-term competitiveness of its global operations.

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Tags: car, coal mine, company, construction, giant, Steel, tata