With a specialty in underground coal mining gained over the years in senior roles at Centennial Coal, Moult brings years of experience and technical know-how into his role.
His coal experience lets him make an informed contribution to the debate over the viability and profitability of coal mining in New South Walesd and the establishment of world's best practice in mining techniques.
He was appointed as an independent non-executive director of Yancoal in January 2018 before being appointed the CEO of the company in March 2020.
The board considered his broad experience, as well as existing knowledge of Yancoal's operations as an independent non-executive director, would provide continuity to the CEO role and allow him to effectively implement the company's strategic priorities following the resignation of Reinhold Schmidt.
Moult was previously Centennial Coal managing director and CEO from 2011 to 2017, and then a non-executive director of the company from May 2017 until January 2018.
He previously held senior management positions at Joy Mining Machinery in the US and Australia, RJB Mining PLC and British Coal in the UK.
Moult is a former director of the Minerals Council of Australia, former chairman and director of the New South Wales Minerals Council, former chairman and director of the Australian Coal Association Low Emissions Technology Ltd, and a former director of the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group and the Port Kembla Coal Terminal.
He is also a member of the University of NSW Education Trust Advisory Committee.
Moult is using this specialised knowledge to good effect as Yancoal's flagship asset - the Moolarben mine in New South Wales - continues to expand underground and develop into a tier one asset with extensive open cut and underground operations.
He is enthusiastic about the high standard of performance and the growth trajectory the company has achieved at Moolarben and the lessons that can be applied to other mines in the Yancoal stable.
"In late 2015, Yancoal started an $800 million expansion of the Moolarben Coal Operation, which encompassed a brownfield expansion of the existing open cut operation and the commencement of a greenfield underground operation," Moult told Australia's Mining Monthly.
"Both expansion projects were delivered on time and under budget.
"In 2020, Moolarben produced 19.7 million tonnes of saleable coal from both open-cut and underground operations. Moolarben is now Yancoal's highest producing and lowest cost thermal coal mining operation, with production having increased by around 170% since 2015.
"The $800 million investment for these projects was repaid within three years."
Moult said in the past five years, the total workforce numbers at Moolarben increased from 260 to 800, and the company also introduced fresh leadership teams at both the open cut and underground operations that worked together to deliver consistent outcomes across the complex.
"This has ensured effective management, budget delivery, mine planning and skills development," he said.
"The long-term strategy for the introduction of underground mining at Moolarben was for a high technology, low-cost operation with a focus on longwall automation and automated cut cycles on development equipment.
"The first year of production involved ‘proof of concept' activities to formulate and standardise the automation processes and procedures.
"Following this first year, automation was successfully implemented with the installation of a fully automated Cat longwall."
Moult said typically, more than 90% automation of the full shear was achieved over any shift.
"The introduction of automation has improved performance and resulted in year-on-year production increases and productivity improvements," he said.
"Other benefits of automation include consistent face alignment and horizon control resulting in improved coal quality - all underground coal bypasses the CHPP [coal handling and preparation plant] and is loaded direct from stockpiles; improved diagnostics and increased reliability - availability rate is above 90%; and reduced exposure to dust and face hazards for personnel."
On the surface at Moolarben the focus is on delivering "value" within existing open cut mining areas.
"This has involved trials to introduce selective mining methods, including the removal of very high ash ply from the mined seam, and a targeted exploration program to develop ply-by-ply geological and mining models," Moult said.
"This has resulted in a 9% increase in coal yield since 2015; an additional 30 million tonnes of coal; a reduction in reject haulage; and maximised throughput of higher value products [despite the challenge of a constrained CHPP]."
Moult optimised the Moolarben complex's operations holistically from production through to processing.
The CHPP Improvement Project focused on increasing and improving short-term efficiencies prior to a major upgrade.
"This proved successful with several positive outcomes, including an increase in the average annual feed rate from 1700 tonnes per hour to 1950tph [above the nameplate design rate]; 10% reduction in train loading times, which allowed for better rail planning capabilities; and improved CHPP availability from 89% to 91%," he said.
Moult is also turning his attention to taking the Mt Thorley Warkworth complex in NSW's Hunter Valley, which Yancoal acquired from Rio Tinto in 2017, underground as well.
"The MTW Underground Project proposes to utilise the extensive coal resource remaining below the floor of the open-cut operation," he said.
"Work is still progressing on a pre-feasibility study to be submitted to the board for consideration."
As a former chairman of the NSW Minerals Council, Moult is aware of the need for mining companies to be good stewards of the environment and the importance of water, especially in regional areas.
During the Moolarben development, effective water management was identified as a critical item to ensure the long-term sustainability of the operation.
"Water management has several key elements: development of an understanding of the water balance on site to predict the volumes of water that would need to be managed at Moolarben over the life-of-mine; and development of a strategy to manage drought and flooding scenarios, which included the construction of a $37 million reverse osmosis water treatment plant that was completed on time and underbudget," Moult said.
"The Moolarben water management plan has proved effective, as demonstrated in both drought conditions and flood events."
Moult says another recent example of a project demonstrating Yancoal's sustainable mining credentials was the rehabilitation and relinquishment of Lake Kepwari in Western Australia.
This was a project undertaken by Premier Coal.
While Premier is owned by Yancoal's major shareholder the Chinese-owned Yanzhou Coal Mining Company, Yancoal manages and operates it.
Lake Kepwari, located at Collie, was an open-cut mine for almost 30 years and has been transformed into a popular attraction for water sports.
"Land rehabilitation is about returning previously mined land to an environmental condition that is safe, stable and sustainable," Moult said.
"Our objectives when rehabilitating was to create a functioning, self-sustaining ecosystem that would integrate into the surrounding bushland and landscape.
"As a temporary steward of the land during the mining process - a critical part of sustainable mining - Yancoal is committed to rehabilitating mined land and creating an asset that will benefit future generations long after mining has ended."
The recent spate of mining fatalities in the Australian coal mining industry has made safety top of mind across the sector.
"As the CEO of Yancoal, I am acutely aware of industry safety and health issues, and I ensure that we monitor industry issues, trends and learning, and incorporate these in our assessment of Core Hazards and Critical Controls across the business," Moult said.
"Since 2015, I have been a director, and am the current chairman, of Coal Services, which is a specialised health and safety scheme working to protect the safety of coal industry workers - a position that provides me with an industry-wide view of positive trends and initiatives across the industry.
"In addition, through our involvement with ACARP, the coal industry's mining research program, Yancoal is actively involved in leading industry research into emerging safety and health issues."
Yancoal's safet focus was reflected in the 18% reduction in the total number of recordable work-related injuries it achieved during 2020, as well as reductions in the total number of high consequence and lost time injuries compared to 2019.
This performance has continued in 2021. Yancoal's 12-month rolling Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate at the end of the first quarter of 2021 was 7.6, which compares favourably with the comparable weighted average TRIFR of 11.1 for the industry.
"This recent history of improvements reflects our continued emphasis, and success in delivering, on the safety and wellbeing of our people," Moult said.
"In addition to the operational safety at our mine sites, Yancoal also considers the mental health and wellbeing of our employees to be an essential focus for the business.
"Throughout 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was impacting our workplaces, our employees' mental health and wellbeing was at the forefront of our engagement with our people. We provided specialised initiatives to assist employees in adjusting to working from home. These initiatives helped employees stay connected to their teams and to Yancoal.
"We have a good track record of adoption of innovative safety solutions into our operations, many of which have come from listening and engaging with our workforce."
Moult said Yancoal also sought to use technology and innovation as much as possible in safeguarding the health and wellbeing of its workforce.
In collaboration with Pegasus, Yancoal has developed and implemented a "client portal" so Yancoal can report, analyse and make operational and safety decisions in real-time based on the information collected through a centralised employee and contractor management system.
