The development for Anglo’s new Bundoora mine – at this stage planned as a two-panel mini-longwall operation – will be driven off the German Creek highwall.

Equipment from the German Creek Central mine, due to close at the end of December, will be used for the longwall face.

German Creek Central was the first longwall mine in Queensland.

Meanwhile, InCoal said its current mining contract at Centennial Coal’s thin-seam Ivanhoe operation would end in December, as a result of lower than expected thermal coal quality.

Some of the workforce and equipment operating at Ivanhoe will be relocated to the German Creek mine, where InCoal is setting up to mine the Aquila seam for Anglo Coal starting in three to four weeks.

“The production rates achieved at Ivanhoe have demonstrated to the coal industry that thin-seam mining is a commercially viable technique for Australian colliery operations,” said Bounty chairman Colin Knox.

InCoal said mining at Ivanhoe had confirmed the commercial potential of the thin-seam mining technique it is using. Production levels averaged 50,000 tonnes in each of the past two months, on a four-day roster. This was in workings with heights of 1.7-1.9m. Production units regularly achieved advance rates over 100m per shift Bounty said.

InCoal is also in discussions with Gujarat NRE regarding contract mining of the Wongawilli and Balgownie seams at the NRE No 1 colliery in Wollongong.