The new $A401 million mine, located 20km east of Moranbah in Queensland's Bowen Basin, is expected to start in the third quarter of 2009 aiming to produce 1.2 million tonnes from the longwall before ramping up to full production from the longwall of 4Mtpa-plus in later years.

Between now and then the mine's management team have plenty to do.

The mine already has a solid mine plan in place based on extensive drilling.

“As more and more open cuts are exhausted there will be a need to mine more structurally complex areas of coal,” said Vale Queensland business development manager Josh Preston.

“In this case it is vital to get the complete picture before laying out a life of mine plan over the lease.

“We know from our exploration boreholes, seismic surveys and long hole surface to seam drilling we have a very complete picture of the resource."

Before Vale began its exploration program, several companies including Thiess Peabody Mitsui Coal, Portman Mining, MGC Resources, Nebo Central Coal and AMCI all carried out exploration on the area, dating back to the 1960s.

Vale started with 2D seismic exploration before a three-stage 3D seismic study where it changed the mine layout a number of times to negotiate major faults and structures.

Vale's exploration has been further validated by surface to seam drilling and the two Joy 12CM12 continuous miners which are currently carrying out development work at the mine.

The development crews are currently driving the first longwall block in preparation for when the longwall is installed. The first longwall equipment will arrive early next year with a mini build at Inbye Mining Services' Mackay facilities.

Vale selected Inbye as the successful tenderer for the project – the first complete longwall system Inbye and its partners have secured (click here for equipment details) .

“We considered a number of OEMs, some of which would not be traditional longwall suppliers in Australia,” Preston said.

“In the end it came down to the requirements of the customer being met while satisfying our commercial requirements."

When tendering out the longwall Vale stipulated a number of requirements, including automation to LASC standards, the ability to operate at 3–5m easily, ability to cut stone, and sprag type face flippers.

Preston explained the mine's insistence on incorporating the latest in automation technology: "Traditionally longwalls have been operated by people who have been brought up on the operator being the expert at the mining process. In a resource stretched period of the industry the more we can rely on automation delivering the consistency the better for safety and results."

The mine required shields that could operate at 3–5m to negotiate a number of structures the crew will have to mine through.

While the Leichhardt seam is a consistent 5.5m high, of which the Carborough Downs longwall will cut 4.5m, Preston said mining through a number of structures would be best achieved at a mining height of 3m.

The mine specified sprag type face flippers as the team felt they would best hold the face rib in position, which would help to support the roof.

“There are also safety advantages in readily providing positive support face side for maintenance purposes," Preston said.

To date 156 people have been appointed to a permanent workforce at the mine – 60 of whom have not worked in coal before. Preston said further recruitment would take place later this year for a staged introduction through the first half of 2009.

Preston said the operation would be responsive to current employees, those on development crews, for example, who would like to operate on the longwall, while at the same time bringing new people into the industry to learn development.