The Joint Coal Board’s official Australian longwall mine production statistics may be a month or so away from publication, but the odds on a central Queensland mine being ranked the country’s number one producer have shortened dramatically.
MIM Holdings Ltd’s Newlands underground mine has confirmed to ILN total production for calendar 1999 topped 5.5Mt, making the operation the most impressive performer in its first full year of operation the local industry has seen.
NCA general manager Mike Ryan said he was aiming for a steady 2000, during which longwall production was likely to fall slightly due to more difficult mining conditions in the first part of the next longwall panel. Development rates should continue at their present high level.
Newlands calendar 1999 performance
Total mine ...................................... 5,552,144 ROM tonnes
Longwall .......................................... 5,157,995 ROM tonnes
Development (15,415.6m) ................... 394,149 ROM tonnes
Calendar year 2000 forecast for Newlands underground
Total mine ....................................... 5,353,800 ROM tonnes
Longwall .......................................... 4,952,776 ROM tonnes
Development (16,040m) ...................... 401,024 ROM tonnes
