As soon as the company received final US Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) approvals for the underground operation, mining began.

The Crossville mine will ramp up to a targeted production rate of 600,000 tons per annum, with the full production rate expected to be achieved in 2006. Approximately two thirds of the mine's production is slated for delivery to the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston power plant under a five-year contract.

"I am very proud of what our team has accomplished today at Crossville,” president and chief executive officer of Hillsborough David Slater said.

“To get this mine into production as quickly as they did, procuring and deploying the necessary mining equipment when such equipment is in as short supply as it is currently, speaks volumes of the dedication and resourcefulness of our people.”

Hillsborough Resources also operates the Quinsam underground thermal coal mine in Campbell River, British Columbia.

Other development projects include metallurgical coal properties near Tumbler Ridge in the north-east of British Columbia and the Bingay Creek metallurgical coal project in the Elk Valley region of south-east British Columbia.