In its December 2001 quarterly results, Southland owner Gympie Gold reported that production for fiscal 2001-02 is scheduled at less than 1.5Mtpa. When longwall mining of block SL3 starts in mid-02, production is scheduled to rise to over 1.5Mtpa.

Coal contractor Thiess was appointed operator at Southland Colliery in March 2001. Gympie said some efficiency improvements have already been achieved since then and measures are being taken to lift efficiencies to target levels.

Run-of-mine production for the quarter was 252,000 tonnes, produced during the nine weeks since the longwall unit was moved to its new production zone in panel SL2/section 2.

Roadway development for the period was 3152m. Gympie said the improvement in total metres was achieved through the introduction of additional development equipment at the end of July, bringing the complement of development units to four. Development metres per week has risen from 119m in July to 219m in September and 242m for the December quarter.

Washed coal production for the quarter was 248,000t with a washery yield of 92%.

“This high yield reflects the very high quality of coal in the Bellbird South lease zone from which production commenced in May 2001 and where there is +20 years coal reserves,” the company said.

Current programs for surface and underground in-seam drilling are focused on confirming high-resolution seismic interpretation of the mine layout between structural features and also to test seam-gas and coal quality distribution in order to refine marketing plans and mine engineering.

Gympie also said that Thiess had won the contract for washing of coal for a term that matches the short-term mining contract.

In expectation of the privatisation of FreightCorp, Southland was reviewing its coal haulage contracts and rail infrastructure.