eXcellerate Contributes to Lower Operating Costs at Coronado’s Curragh Mine

Discover how eXcellerate contributed to Coronado Global Resources Inc. (Coronado) cost reduction initiatives at its Curragh Mining Complex in Queensland through iXcede’s data-driven insights and performance optimisation.

Coronado recently noted it had accomplished a major leap in operational performance at its Curragh Mining Complex reporting. In early September, at the Bowen Basin Mining Club, Coronado’s CEO Douglas Thompson shared that across the group (which has operations in the US as well) over US$200million in lower operating costs had been achieved and he outlined Coronado’s strategy for long-term value creation and sustainable growth in Queensland’s coal sector.

In partnership with Coronado, eXcellerate played an important role in the achievement of some of these cost reductions at the Curragh Mining Complex. Our team supported operator performance and dragline design optimisations, contributing to Curragh’s site-wide efficiency transformation.

iXcede: Driving Operator Performance and Productivity

The deployment of iXcede, our proprietary performance management platform, played an important role in evaluating operator performance and identifying behavioural patterns.

Traditional systems focus on dig rate as the primary metric to evaluate productivity and consistency. Instead, iXcede analyses exactly how each operator works, so they get precise feedback on every stage of their performance. This enables targeted development plans across all tasks and discourages counterproductive behaviour like short swinging or taking the ‘easy dirt’. It also equips site leaders with the tools to make informed decisions about crew deployment and continuous improvement.

At Curragh, our consultancy team worked directly with individual operators to identify performance opportunties and develop tailored training programs. This personalised approach has helped build engagement and supported productivity improvements, with positive feedback from operators and management.

Dragline Optimization with eXcellerate

In parallel, the eXcellerate team supported mine planning, pit design optimization and coal scheduling, reducing dragline rehandle and increasing dragline coal uncovery.

Curragh set a 5% target to uncover coal using its’ draglines above its 2024 actuals;, and the Coronado and eXcellerate teams continue to work together to keep draglines on track to deliver the target in FY2025. By lifting draglines’ waste movement, we helped the Curragh team lower costs and contributed to site-wide efficiency gains.

eXcellerate’s work began with Coronado’s Supermax 8750 Dragline 304. Strong results followed at Curragh, with three of the last four months exceeding budget, at an annualised run rate of 24mbcm . The program is now being expanded across the broader fleet.

“By leveraging contractor expertise and empowering our operators with actionable, data-driven insights, we’ve seen improved dragline performance by reducing cycle times, increasing availability, and ultimately cutting costs. Collaborating with partners like eXcellerate not only brought in critical external support, but also helped embed a performance-driven culture in the dragline operational teams”, expressed Douglas Thompson, Managing Director. “ When individual operators are equipped to make better decisions in real time, the impact scales which turns small improvements into measurable, site-wide gain”

Innovation and Sustainable Growth in Queensland Mining

Coronado’s focus on innovation continues to deliver tangible results. The team has embraced data-driven performance management and shown a strong commitment to continuous improvement.

“Performance starts with people. By giving dragline operators clear feedback and practical tools, we’ve helped support a culture of improvement,” said Eddy Hagel, Managing Director of eXcellerate. “Coronado’s hard work and commitment have made this partnership incredibly rewarding.”

eXcellerate believes that Curragh’s dragline fleet has the potential to reach world-class performance. The early results are promising and, with continued collaboration, there’s significant opportunity to unlock even greater value.

We’re proud to be part of this journey and look forward to continuing our partnership with Coronado.