Valley Longwall Drilling has completed more than 10,000m of directional drilling at Newlands ahead of schedule and on budget. The contract, which saw a series of 1200m-plus holes drilled with unerring accuracy, was the second completed by Valley at the central Queensland mine.

A spokesman for Valley said the drilling of curved holes to specific development panel targets, and negotiation of geological structures, were two of the technical challenges resolved during the latest drilling program.

"The value of directional drilling for mine exploration has been proven by Valley Longwall Drilling at a number of underground mine sites during 1999," the spokesman said. "Particularly successful programs have been conducted at Glennies Creek, where seam faulting was investigated, and at West Wallsend, where a sill was intersected in the middle of a proposed longwall panel."

At the Powercoal-operated Myuna mine near Newcastle, Valley has assisted in defining the seam profile under Lake Macquarie.

"The information in each of these cases has influenced mine planning and avoided potential costly surprises," Valley’s spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Valley’s USA joint venture continues to successfully transplant Australian directional drilling techniques across the Pacific. In-seam exploration programs have been successfully carried out or are planned at the West Elk, Drummond and Skyline mines in the US. Valley’s spokesman said Australian drillers and equipment had assisted in the drilling programs and the joint venture was poised to take its expertise into other international markets such as China and Eastern Europe.