Steelmaking coal

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What is steelmaking coal?

Steelmaking coal, also known as metallurgical coal or coking coal, is a naturally occurring sedimentary rock found within the earth’s crust. Steelmaking coal has a range of quality grades, including hard coking coal, semi-hard coking coal, semi-soft coking coal and pulverised coal for injection (PCI). All are used to make steel. Steelmaking coal typically contains more carbon, less ash and less moisture than energy coal, which is used for electricity generation.

Prehistoric

Coal is formed from prehistoric vegetation that has been heated and compressed over millions of years.

Energy

The energy we get from coal today comes from the sunlight that was absorbed by plants millions of years ago.

Heavy machinery

The equipment used to mine coal is huge! Excavators can weigh up to 800 tonnes and haul trucks can carry up to 300 tonnes per load.

Steel

It takes around 770kgs of steelmaking coal to make the steel used in a typical mid-sized car.

How is steelmaking coal used?

Steelmaking coal is an essential ingredient in the production of steel, making it one of the most widely used building materials. It takes around 770 kilograms of coal to make one tonne of steel, with approximately 70 per cent of global steel produced in basic oxygen blast furnaces. Our challenge is to continue producing the coal required to support steel production for future construction, infrastructure and the infrastructure required for the energy transition, while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions footprint of our operations.

Construction

Most buildings, bridges and other key infrastructure projects have one thing in common - they are built with steel made from iron ore and steelmaking coal in blast furnaces.

Household appliances

You’ll find steel in everyday household appliances like your ovens, fridges and cutlery.

Transport

Every mode of transportation relies on steel. That includes planes, trains, ships, trucks and cars.

How is steel made?

Creating coke

Steelmaking coal is heated above 1,000ºC in a coking oven to create coke – a hard, porous lump.

Blast furnace

The coke is then added to a blast furnace with iron ore. Hot air and PCI are introduced, creating a flame temperature over 2,000ºC.

Converting to a liquid

The burning coal and coke produces carbon monoxide, which, along with the high temperature, converts the iron ore into a liquid.

Molten steel

This molten ‘pig iron’ is transported to a steel shop, where impurities are removed and alloys are added to make steel.

Where is steelmaking coal found?

Steelmaking coal comes mainly from the United States, Canada and Australia. BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) has five operating coal mines in the Bowen Basin area of Central Queensland in Australia.

Queensland

Queensland Coal comprises the five BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) assets in Australia's Bowen Basin region of central Queensland.

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How is steelmaking coal mined?

Underground

At BMA’s Broadmeadow mine in Central Queensland, coal is mined by a longwall shearer deep underground. The coal is then transported to the surface on a conveyor belt and stockpiled. Impurities are removed through washing and treatment at a coal handling and preparation plant. It is then transported by train to port, loaded onto ships and exported to our customers.

Open cut

At BMA’s open cut mines, we extract coal from seams relatively close to the surface. We blast and remove the surface layers of soil and rock to expose the coal, which we then mine using excavators, draglines, shovels and trucks. Impurities are then removed, before being transported by train to port, loaded onto ships and exported to our customers.

Where is our steelmaking coal exported to?

BMA’s steelmaking coal is shipped to steel mills and coking plants in China, India, Japan, South-East Asia, South Korea, Europe and Latin America.

Steelmaking coal is a black sedimentary rock found within the earth's crust. It is higher in carbon and typically lower in moisture than energy coal and is an essential part of the steelmaking process.

Fact about met coal