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Flood restricts access and productivity to Baralaba

THE WET season saw March quarter production at Cockatoo Coal’s Baralaba mine in Queensland budgeted lower than the previous quarter. But the big wet really hurt this year, with 30 production shifts lost due to access restrictions.

Lou Caruana
Flood restricts access and productivity to Baralaba

The mine itself did not suffer any damage due to the weather, the company said.

It produced 99,687 tonnes of ROM coal in the March quarter and moved 1 million bank cubic metres of overburden.

“Whilst production activities were restricted, mine planning for future operations in the existing mining areas was optimised with the benefit of this optimisation expected to be realised during the remainder of the year,” Cockatoo said in a statement. “Production for the full calendar year is expected to achieve budget.”

Wet weather also impacted the Moura Rail System, with the line closed to rail traffic on two occasions for a total of 36 days and also subject to restricted traffic for a further 37 days, resulting in shipments during the quarter being lower than forecast.

The Moura Rail System is now operating at full capacity and planned shipments during the June quarter are expected to make up for most of the shortfall this quarter.

Baralaba is managed by Cockatoo and operated by contractors providing blasting, mining and haulage.

The company undertakes its own coal preparation services.

PCI coal and thermal coal are produced from multiple seams from the well-known Rangal Coal Measures.

All the coal sold is exported through the Port of Gladstone.

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