Started with one lease and a second-hand fleet.
Twenty-one years on, we’re still headquartered in Mackay and still run by people who came up through the pit.
Built in the Bowen Basin, not bolted onto it.
Ironbark was formed in 2004 by three mining engineers who had spent their careers on Central Queensland coal and thought a smaller operator could run a pit better. The first lease was a marginal open cut nobody else wanted. It’s still producing.
We grew by buying assets others had written off and running them properly — tight scheduling, a maintained fleet, and crews who stay. Around 84% of our workforce lives in the Mackay, Isaac and Central Highlands regions, and we spend the bulk of our procurement budget inside Queensland.
We’re privately held. There’s no quarterly market story to manage, which means we can make decisions on a mine-life horizon and hold to them.
Leadership
Graham Toohey
Mining engineer, 28 years in Queensland coal. Co-founded Ironbark in 2004.
Deb Wallace
Former SSE at two Bowen Basin underground operations. Joined 2016.
Arjun Mehta
Leads offtake, logistics and joint ventures from our Brisbane office.
Karen Lindqvist
Accountable for the group safety and health management system and reporting.