Tahmoor Colliery is an

underground coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

at Tahmoor in the Southern Highlands region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. Owned by the SIMEC Group, a

GFG Alliance GFG Alliance (long name Gupta Family Group Alliance), usually referred to as GFG, is an international group of businesses associated with businessman Sanjeev Gupta and the British Gupta family. , the companies in the group are Liberty Steel Group, ...

company, the colliery has been shut down since February 2025 owing to financial troubles.

History

Construction of the mine was commenced by Clutha Development in 1975, and opened in 1980 by BP Coal, which by then had had purchased Clutha. It was sold to Conzinc Riotinto Australia in 1989, Austal Coal in 1997,

Centennial Coal ÷Some of the more notable coal companies in Australia are the following: Summary of coal companies Anglo Coal Australia Ltd Anglo Coal Australia Ltd owns and operates a number of mines in Queensland and New South Wales. Mines Callide mine: i ...

in 2005, and

Xstrata Xstrata plc was an Anglo-Swiss Multinational corporation, multinational mining company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It was a major producer of coal (and the world's largest exporter o ...

in 2007. In 2013, Xstrata merged with

Glencore Glencore plc is an Anglo-Swiss Multinational corporation, multinational commodity trading and mining company with headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, Baar, Switzerland. Glencore's oil and gas headquarters are in London, London, England as well a ...

, and Tahmoor Colliery became known as Glencore's Tahmoor Underground. Tahmoor Coal Pty Ltd was acquired on 20 April 2018 by the

SIMEC SIMEC Group Ltd is a British international energy and natural resources business focused on resources, sustainable power, infrastructure, and commodities trading. It is part of the GFG Alliance, which is owned by members of the Gupta family. His ...

mining division of the

started trading as Tahmoor Coking Coal Operations (TCCO). In May 2025, the

New South Wales Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

gave approval to the mine to continue operating for at least another eight years. In February 2025, around 450 employees were stood down, initially on paid leave for four weeks, after being told that the shutdown was due to unpaid bills which had caused deliveries from key suppliers to be paused. , the colliery was still not operational, with 560 workers workers having been stood down indefinitely, owing to the ongoing financial problems of parent company

Incidents

Tahmoor Colliery has a history of outbursts, in which gas trapped in the coal violently escapes during mining, throwing hundreds of tonnes of coal and rock, and large amounts of suffocating gas. One miner was killed as a consequence of one of these outbursts in 1985. In 1994, it was reported that Tahmoor had recorded 89 outbursts up to April 1992. In response to that fatality, practices and equipment were upgraded, initially to provide a separately-ventilated and armoured operator cabin, and later to provide remote control. In September 2018, two men were trapped underground when the lift cage jammed in the mine shaft. They were uninjured, and rescued late in the evening by

Fire & Rescue New South Wales Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) previously known as NSW Fire Brigades (NSWFB), is a agency of the New South Wales Government, Australia. FRNSW is responsible for firefighting, rescue and HAZMAT services in the major cities, metropolitan areas and ...

Description

the colliery is operated by

, part of the

owned by British businessman

Sanjeev Gupta Sanjeev Gupta is an Indian-born British businessman, and the founder of Liberty House Group. He is the CEO and chairman of GFG Alliance, an international conglomerate that operates primarily in the steel and mining industries, its major subsid ...

. the mine was up for sale, with a price of A$800 million. The mine operates in the Bulli

coal seam Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

. Most of the mine product is hard

coking coal Coke is a grey, hard, and porous coal-based fuel with a high carbon content. It is made by heating coal or petroleum in the absence of air. Coke is an important industrial product, used mainly in iron ore smelting, but also as a fuel in stoves ...

used for steel making. A small quantity of steaming blend coal used for power generation is also produced. Both products are exported to Europe and Asia, a total of 75% of its production. The mine was reported in 2017 as having of reserves and total resource. The mine produces a high level of

carbon emission Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate change. The l ...

s, second highest of all coal mines in NSW, releasing over a million tonnes of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

in 2024 just from its operations.

Railway connection

The colliery is connected to the

Main Southern railway line The Main Southern Railway (or Great Southern Railway) is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs from Sydney to Albury, near the Victorian border. The line passes through the Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, South West ...

via a

balloon loop A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains. Bal ...

that opened in May 1981. In 2013, extension of the mine was anticipated to take it below a railway tunnel on the Main Southern railway line. To avoid the risk of subsidence within the tunnel, Xstrata funded the construction of a diversion around Redbank Hill to remove trains from the tunnel, which was filled with rock and sealed.

References

External links

*{{official, https://www.tahmoorcolliery.com.au/ BP Coal mines in New South Wales Glencore Industries of the Southern Highlands (New South Wales) Xstrata 1980 establishments in Australia