The coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP) at the Ulan Mine Complex has a flexible 1800 tph raw coal receivals system which allows either individual, or any combination of, direct plant feed, raw coal stockpiling or reclamation from the stockpile by a bucket wheel reclaimer.
 
A 1000 tonne surge bin distributes feed to a nominal capacity 1200 tph between two modules. The CHPP utilises dense medium baths, dense medium cyclones and water washing cyclones to separate rejects from thermal coal product for both the domestic and export markets.
 
Coarse rejects are trucked from a receivals bin and incorporated into the mining cycle. Tailings are thickened and pumped to an approved reject emplacement dam.
 
Product coal is stacked onto product stockpiles and reclaimed by a 2000 tph rail mounted bucket wheel reclaimer to a 1750 t rail load out bin for rail transport to domestic  markets or  export markets through the Port of Newcastle coal terminals.

To accommodate the increased ROM coal production associated with the expansion of the operation to a 20 mtpa mining complex it is proposed to upgrade the CHPP capacity.  The current CHPP contains two parallel modules and provisions for the approved third module.  With the increase in the volume of coal requiring washing, significant internal modifications to the two existing modules and the addition of a third module may be required. The third module will be located on the northern side of the existing CHPP and will be contained within an acoustically treated colour bond style of structure.

The third module will allow for further recovery of coal through handling the increased throughput as well as incorporating a middling circuit where CHPP reject coal will pass through a second washing cycle.  As part of the CHPP upgrade, the modifications will also allow for improvements in water use efficiencies via upgrading the dewatering, dense medium cyclone and fines circuits.  Modifications to the Magnetite addition system, thickener system and effluent circuits would also occur.  This is collectively known as the middling circuit and reduces the rehandling of reject material for reprocessing.
 
These modifications will increase the CHPP capacity and in addition to coal that bypasses the CHPP will enable production of 20 Mtpa. The inclusion of a middling circuit will result in improved CHPP processing resource recovery (up to 90 per cent plant yield) by removing the need to re-process coarse reject coal and therefore increasing both operational and energy efficiency.