It follows a disappointing September quarter for the Illawarra Coal, which saw production plunge by 39% from the June quarter after a scheduled longwall move at West Cliff and an extended outage at Dendrobium.

The coking coal juggernaut expects to have a ramp-up in production in the six months to June 2014.

Illawarra Coal produced 1.4 million tonnes of coal in the September quarter.

It is still investigating the cause of a significant roof fall at Dendrobium.

The incident took place early last Monday afternoon, according to a spokeswoman.

“No one was injured as a result of the incident,” Illawarra Coal said.

“All employees were evacuated and accounted for and a full investigation is underway.”

No other details were provided, including where the roof fall took place underground, the size of it and how long operations were disrupted for.

In late June a worker injured his foot at the underground mine, while in February 2012, a miner lost three fingers after his hand got wedged between the canopy of the coal tram he was driving and a rib.

Overall the company’s Queensland Coal subsidiary is making a comeback after a rough two years marred by weather and industrial relations stoppages.

Metallurgical coal production increased by 14% in the 2013 September quarter to 10Mt.

Queensland Coal continued to run at full supply chain capacity during the period with annualised production of 61Mt.

“This strong result was underpinned by the continued ramp-up of Daunia, record quarterly production at South Walker Creek and improved coal preparation plant performance at Blackwater and Saraji,” the company said.

“This was partially offset by a planned longwall move at Crinum and scheduled coal preparation plant maintenance at Goonyella Riverside and Peak Downs.”

Total metallurgical coal production guidance for the 2014 financial year is unchanged at 41Mt.

Queensland Coal continued to benefit from its focus on productivity, newly installed chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said.

“Our pursuit of productivity gains and operating excellence is already yielding strong results,” he said.

“Our rate of expenditure will decline again next year and if our investment criteria cannot be met in any one project, product or geography, we will redirect our capital elsewhere or we will not invest.

“With strong production growth and our overriding commitment to substantially increase free cash flow, we are well positioned to grow returns to our shareholders.”

Energy coal production increased by 3% in the September 2013 quarter to 20Mt with record quarterly production at both New South Wales Energy Coal and Cerrejon Coal in Colombia contributing to the strong result.