Company directors were pleased with the result given the loss of one week's production due to the Christmas holidays and the upgrading of a major conveyor belt system, which continued during the quarter and is now near completion.
Fourth quarter sales were 528,000t, bringing the total for the year to 1.58Mt. The figure was slightly lower than expected after a 63,000t shipment originally scheduled for late December did not sail until January 1, outside the reporting period.
Clean coal recovery was maintained at 81% compared to the historical average of 77%.
Austral said it is confident of a significant price rise for 2001 coal contracts after holding preliminary discussions with some customers. It already has confirmed sales of 450,000t for the current quarter.
In the three months to December 31, 1147m of mine development at Tahmoor were driven as development continued through a zone of high gas concentration requiring drill and blast methodology rather than conventional mining.
Another 15,410m of drilling for gas drainage was completed. Longwall panel 19 has now been completely drilled and is under drainage. Drilling has commenced in longwall panel 20 where mining is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2002.
International Mining Consultants have completed a preliminary report on future development options at Tahmoor and recommended development of the North Tahmoor reserves ahead of Bargo. The final report on the reserves, which are unlikely to be needed for another four years, is due at the end of January.
IMC said Tahmoor North would sustain around 10 years of mining, extracting 22.5Mt at rates of up to double the current rate of production of the Tahmoor colliery.
It recommended the Tahmoor lease area because it provides:
* more ready access from existing main road development
* lower development cost
* increased size of longwall panels averaging 3km in length and containing 2.5Mt (among the largest in Australia)
* a more complete knowledge of the resource
* improved coal quality and coal seam gas conditions
At year-end the company was debt free with cash reserves in excess of $3 million and coal sale receivables of about $3.5 million.
