The Zululand colliery was recently set back by an underground combustion accident which killed one worker and injured two others, while the Deep E shaft came across a “large amount of water, a very uncommon phenomenon” at the mine, forcing a move into different areas.

Run-of-mine coal production consequently slipped 8% year-on-year to 396,770 tonnes for the last six months of 2009.

However, coal sales increased 22%, a result of increased anthracite demand as the global steel industry started to revive output.

Over at the Benga coking coal project in Mozambique, Riversdale plans to submit its barging feasibility study and associated environmental impact assessment to the government in the second half.

The company is investigating the development of a channel as part of its plan to barge Benga coal on the Zambezi River to an offshore transloading vessel.

The open cut project with joint venture partner Tata Steel is initially targeting 5.3 million tonnes per annum of ROM coal to produce 1.7Mtpa of hard coking coal and 300,000tpa of export thermal coal from 2011.

Since the $US270 million development was approved, the JV has signed a procurement contract with Sedgman for the coal handling and preparation plant, and announced the development of the Benga power plant.

Riversdale ended 2009 with a cash position of $A258.3 million.

Shares in the company closed down 3.6% to $8.19 on Friday.