MINES

Development record for Bellambi West

SINCE the introduction of American-style operating, the Bellambi West longwall operation near Wollongong in New South Wales has consistently improved its development rates.

Staff Reporter

In the last three months development section performance has been impressive with the moving average for the period in excess of 300 metres/week for the single cut and flit section in operation at the mine. Performance from this section continues to improve with weeks of 350m regularly achieved.

Steve Baldwin, managing director of Allied Coal, which owns and operates the mine, said the development section at Bellambi West continues to set development records for the South Coast.

“This is an outstanding effort and continues the strong productivity performance of the cut and flit section. The weekly achievement follows on from a previous weekly record of 363m achieved in the first week of November.

"These achievements have been delivered up in a less than ideal cut and flit layout of two heading with large pillar dimensions constrained by operating under the Cataract Dam.

Safety performance continues to improve as well with the underground now having completed 14 months lost time injury free,” Baldwin said.

An exclusive interview with Steve Baldwin, as well as a review of operations at Bellambi, is due to be published on ILN during December.

Period

Week Ended

26 November' 2000

Advance

420.6 metres

Production Shifts

13

Maintenance Shifts

2

Average advance/Production

Shift

32.4 metres

TOPICS:

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Automation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations using autonomous solutions in every region and sector, including analysis of the factors driving investment decisions

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2023 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of current exploration rates, trending exploration technologies, a ranking of top drill intercepts and a catalogue of 2022 Initial Resource Estimates and recent discovery successes.