MANAGEMENT

Whitehaven ready to rock after keeping staff during downturn

WHITEHAVEN Coal is in a good position to ramp up production and capitalise on higher coal prices because it retained its skilled personnel during the downturn, CEO Paul Flynn says.

 Whitehaven Coal CEO Paul Flynn said the company’s focus is on maintaining solid production performance and optimising its coal product offering.

Whitehaven Coal CEO Paul Flynn said the company’s focus is on maintaining solid production performance and optimising its coal product offering.

He said, in Whitehaven's annual report, that the company's focus is on maintaining solid production performance and optimising its coal product offering to "make the most of the incredibly strong seaborne coal price environment".

"While we saw cyclical lows in pricing, towards the end of the year coal prices reached historic highs as the global economic recovery picked up pace amid continuing tightness in supply," he said.

"During the cyclical lows our operations maintained production, ensuring our people had security of employment and the company was not reliant on government support.

"Operationally, while we had our hands full putting the more difficult geological conditions at Narrabri behind us, we also saw our largest mine, Maules Creek, achieve record annual run-of-mine production of 12.7 million tonnes."

Flynn said this was a clear indication of the operational discipline and consistency the company had been striving to achieve.

"Across the group, our RoM [run-of-mine] production of 20.6Mt was in line with the prior year," he said.

"Positively, while also contending with port and logistics disruption, COVID-19 and other challenges, we managed to contain costs and chart our way through some difficult market conditions.

"It was a great team effort by our people."

Flynn said Whitehaven's ongoing investment in people and systems in the environmental performance and compliance areas demonstrated the value it placed on environmental management and its relationship to its social licence to operate.

"The integration of our Health, Safety & Environment function, established in early FY21, is already delivering positive outcomes around compliance culture and adherence to clear systems and processes," he said.

"During FY21 we reached milestones on each of our development projects. The Vickery Extension project received its state-based approval, while the Narrabri Stage 3 Extension project and the Winchester South project - our first development in Queensland - are both progressing well through their respective planning processes."

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Automation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations using autonomous solutions in every region and sector, including analysis of the factors driving investment decisions

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2023 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of current exploration rates, trending exploration technologies, a ranking of top drill intercepts and a catalogue of 2022 Initial Resource Estimates and recent discovery successes.