Bounty now has the 95% of its capital expenditure program behind it and holds two low profile mining units fully rebuilt and coded – with one operating at Ivanhoe near Lithgow in New South Wales. Production mining at Ivanhoe commenced near the end of June this year.

The other miner has been busy at the central Queensland project undertaking this seam development work since December 2004. Bounty said it anticipated cementing a long-term position at the mine over the next month and activating a second low profile unit to full production by October 2005.

Bounty is still waiting to start work at Indian producer Gujarat’s NRE No. 1 colliery in New South Wales.

Bounty said the mine plan developed by the mine owner had undergone a number of significant revisions and mining will now commence in the Bulli seam in August. Mining in the Balgownie seam will begin in the third or fourth quarter of the 2006 financial year.

The Bulli seam is 2m thick and has been mined for the past 150 years. The current plan is to mine certain panels of coal left behind by previous mine owners.

The mine plan does not suit the use of continuous haulage and high production mining specialised in by Bounty. Consequently, Bounty has sold the conventional mining equipment it acquired for the project to Gujarat for it to undertake the work.

However, the Balgownie seam is better suited to Bounty’s specialties. The 1.2m seam is 12m below the Bulli seam. Bounty has retained the right to mine the seam for Gujarat and plans to commence mining next year once mining approvals have been obtained.

Bounty said it was looking forward to a successful 2006 and anticipated securing another mining project in the third or fourth quarter of the 2006 financial year. The company will obtain another low profile unit for the project.

Bounty predicted a net profit of $A6 million in financial year 2006.