Coal production at Anglo Coal’s Aquila Colliery in Central Queensland reached 55,000 tonnes for the month of January, a solid result considering there were fewer production shifts when one production crew moved to the Bundoora longwall development contract located nearby.

But the commissioning of Bounty’s first continuous haulage system was recently put on hold until the first quarter of fiscal 2008 because of problems in obtaining electrical enclosures and motors compliant with Australian regulatory requirements.

Meanwhile, Bounty is still considering new mining projects in the Bowen Basin and the Lithgow region after new mining regulations effective January 1, 2007 disrupted plans to start new projects this month.

The Tatu mining project on New Zealand's North Island is on target to ramp up later this year, with production of around 250,000t expected in the first year, rising to 500,000t in the second year.

Bounty also announced a number of changes to the executive management team today, with founding CEO Mark Gray stepping down as CEO to focus solely on business development and growth. While a new CEO has not yet been appointed, Bounty chairman Dr Colin Knox is filling the role on an interim basis.

The reshuffle has also made room for the new position of chief operating officer, to be filled by Jason Johnson of Quay Capital.