He told the Longwall 2017 conference in the Hunter Valley that this would ensure Carborough Downs, with its existing longwall and its development pipeline, would have a mine life of more than 10 years.

It is also part of the company’s overall strategy to drive north and unlock significant future reserves.

“Currently there are five projects of significance identified by the organic pipeline: Carborough Downs; Ironbark No1; Broadlea Red Hill; and Broadlea Central,” Livingstone-Blevins said.

He said there was also significant latent growth within the portfolio.

“Exploration plans are being developed,” Livingstone-Blevins said.

“The organic growth program also has significant local M&A ‘bolt-on opportunities’.”

The company has increased its reserves by 21% since it purchased the Carborough Downs mine from Portugese mining giant Vale in 2017.

Fitzroy has a 981sq.km tenement area, 500 million tonnes in reserves, and 3 billion tonnes in resources.      

“We have a back to basics approach in everything we do,” Livingstone-Blevins said.

The company was focused on attracting key personnel, management changes, and “out of the box thinking”.