UNDERGROUND

Anglo production falls by 32% after Grosvenor and Moranbah incidents

ANGLO American’s metallurgical coal production has plunged 32% to 4 million tonnes in the June quarter due to two incidents underground at its Moranbah North and Grosvenor mines in Queensland as well as longwall moves at Grosvenor and Grasstree.

Anglo American's Moranbah North mine in Queensland.

Anglo American's Moranbah North mine in Queensland.

In January, a fall of ground at Moranbah delayed the completion of a longwall move with the operation restarting ahead of schedule in mid-May.

At Grosvenor, operations have been suspended since the beginning of May following a gas ignition incident underground.

"The investigation into the incident at Grosvenor is under way and mining operations will restart only when it is safe to do so, with any additional safety measures in place," the company said.

Disruption to operations from COVID-19 have been limited, with measures in place to help safeguard the workforce and local communities.

Open cut operations have been scaled back at Dawson and Capcoal in response to reduced demand for lower quality metallurgical coal.

As a result of the lower volumes following these operational issues, the first half 2020 unit cost is expected to be about US$97/tonne.

The ratio of hard coking coal production to pulverised coal injection/semi-soft coking coal was 81:19, lower than in Q2 2019, due to a lower proportion of product coming from the underground operations.

Anglo American said following the temporary suspension of operations at Grosvenor since the start of May, production guidance for metallurgical coal was revised to 16-18Mt - previously 19-21Mt - subject to the extent of further COVID-19 related disruption.

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.