The above budget quarterly production was achieved despite a planned longwall move at Springvale and reflects continuing strong performance from the Clarence colliery in particular, the company said.

The total number of tonnes under Centennial management has grown to an annualised rate of about 5 million tonnes per annum.

Centennial’s 50% owned Springvale mine in NSW is currently mining longwall 406, which started in late May. Longwall production for June totalled 205,700t and for July 198,600t. This is an excellent result considering the presence of a geological fault running through the centre of the block.

The mine has in place a longwall strata management plan which triggers management actions if stability problems are indicated in advance of the face. PUR injection has been used in the gateroads before but is being used for the first time mid-face to consolidate the faulted areas in the middle of the longwall block.

In the calendar year to June 2001, Springvale produced 678,260t with 600,660t longwall coal. The mine is budgeted to produce 2.1Mt to December 2001.