Moranbah North is 88% owned by Anglo Coal Australia, with the remaining 12% owned by joint venture partners Nippon Steel, Mitsui Coal, Shinsho Australia, NS Resources and Kokan Kogyo.

Each JV partner will bear the cost of the upgrade in proportion to its percentage interest.

Nippon Steel, which holds a 5% interest in the mine, said the Moranbah North JV had agreed to invest in the upgrade of the main mining equipment, including new roof supports.

“The Moranbah North JV has studied and decided to replace and upgrade the main mining equipment … so as to improve productivity and maintain safety,” the company said.

“The total capital investment is estimated to be approximately $A210 million [about 21 billion yen] and commissioning of the large-scale and new mining equipment is expected by mid-2009.”

The current Moranbah North longwall was supplied by Joy Mining, which ILN understands will also provide the new equipment.

In 2006, the longwall mine produced 4.4Mt and is expected to produce 4.7Mt in 2007.

For a full insight into the Moranbah North longwall upgrade, check out the September edition of Australian Longwall Magazine.