Bounty spent $900,000 on readying the unit, as well as bringing forward its rebuild of one of its continuous miners and recoding shuttle cars and other haulage equipment in preparation of anticipated new contracts.

"The benefit of this investment strategy is that Bounty will have reliable equipment to complement the commissioning of continuous haulage within the next month, and helps prepare it to take advantage of the new mining and development opportunities currently being negotiated," it said on Thursday.

The downside to the miner rebuild was an impact on revenues for the December quarter; however, Bounty said this was mitigated by a reduction in its cost base for the 2007 financial year.

To further mitigate risk, Bounty has modified its system of work to increase the focus on equipment maintenance and to redirect labour to other revenue generating activities within the mine.

"This action has enabled Bounty to secure and commence a short-term agreement for additional development work at another site," the company said.