Underground mines produced 2.356Mt, close to the 2.253Mt produced a year ago. Open cut mines produced 12.016Mt.
Some 12.032Mt of coal was exported, with coking coal making up 7.853Mt of the total. Thermal coal exports were up from 2.888Mt in May 2003 to 4.179Mt.
Employment figures continued to rise and in May 2004, 12,244 people were employed in the state’s coal sector, up from the 10,688 people employed a year ago.
Average output per seven hour employee shift was 52.09t.