Surat Basin Coal Supply Chain
- Brand:
- Ausenco Sandwell
- Client:
- Xstrata Coal
- Location:
- Queensland, Australia
- Completed:
- 2010
Optimizing a Coal Supply Chain
Xstrata Coal Queensland engaged Ausenco Sandwell to evaluate and optimize the Surat Basin Coal Chain.
This supply chain will take coal from the proposed Wandoan mine to marine terminals at the Port of Gladstone and Port Alma.
The key analytic tool developed for this analysis was a simulation model of the entire supply chain. The model included the proposed Surat Basin rail line, the existing Moura, Blackwater, and North Coast rail lines, eighteen mines, five types of trains, four coal export terminals, and two ship access channels.
The model reported the operating cost for several scenarios, quantified the benefit of extra infrastructure, and was used to determine the optimum expansion pathway over a multi-year ramp up of coal production.
The project was completed in five months by a team of bulk handling, rail, and simulation specialists using Ausenco Sandwell’s Transportation Logistics Simulator software.
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