Limited commissioning of various parts of the longwall system has begun and will be stepped up next week, with operations on schedule for the June 1 startup.
Development required prior to startup of panel 22 will be completed this weekend. Three of the mine’s five development units have already been relocated to commence development for future longwall panels.
Austral plans to increase production from June 2004 to three million tonnes per annum for the remainder of the year before stepping up to 3.5Mtpa over the initial eight-year life of the mine.
