The mine produced just over 1 million tonnes of saleable coal in March, beating the previous company monthly production record of 827,000 tonnes.

Both records were achieved on the same panel in the same mine.

The mine has short panel runs because the mine is divided into eastern and western sections by a pillar to support the railway that services the mine.

The current panel contains 2.82Mt in a 4.5m-thick seam with a 300m-wide longwall.

The longwall equipment consists of conventional Caterpillar two-legged shields, plus a Caterpillar PF6 AFC and stage loader and a Joy 7LS6 shearer.

All face equipment is operated at 3.3 kilovolts.

The face operates with unidirectional cutting and the powered supports are advanced individually due to the highly variable face conditions.

In March the mine produced 1.01Mt of saleable coal from the longwall plus 14,000t from development.

The longwall produced for approximately 18 hours per day over 29 days in the month.

This performance was obtained without any lost time injuries on the face and with full compliance with safety laws.