Let’s talk about the scale of the tail.

Today, Queensland produces approximately 137 million tonnes of saleable metallurgical coal each year. Based on typical plant yields of ~70%, this equates to around 196 million tonnes of ROM coal processed annually. From this, an estimated 11.8 to 23.5 million tonnes of dry tailings are generated. That’s the equivalent of 12,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools every year!

The range reflects variation across mine sites in processing efficiency, coal quality, and tailings recovery methods, but even at the lower end, the scale is enormous.

Across more than 58 active mines, operators are swimming freestyle on these tailings, with no common, collaborative approach for capturing the value of precious metals left behind. In fact almost no data existed previously – what’s in them, what’s of value, how we might put these resources to good use.

What if we reimagined the Bowen Basin not as a collection of individual mines, but as an integrated system — one capable of circulating resources, retaining value, and regenerating opportunity?

Coreo, in partnership with the Resources Centre of Excellence and the Queensland Government, supported by the analytical capability of the University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute, has mapped the largest consolidated data set yet.

Through the collaboration and willingness of mine operators to share physical samples and operational data, we now have, for the first time, a clear snapshot of what lies within.

In a circular economy, tailings are not waste — they are misclassified resources, waiting to be reimagined.

Download the report and explore how we can unlock the full value of the full volume, together.