Aquila said the sales for Isaac Plains positioned the company to meet its 1.4 million tonne annualised sales target.

Isaac Plains produced 630,111t of saleable coal, jumping 61% year-on-year.

However, the road to restoring the partners’ embattled relationship continues after Aquila said Vale had not yet approved the full-year budget for Isaac Plains, while revealing a long-term lifting agreement surrounding coal marketing arrangements had not yet been made but were “ongoing”

Vale and Aquila reached a short-term marketing agreement in July last year after Vale ended an arrangement for joint marketing of the mine’s coal with Aquila subsidiary IP Coal, causing shipments at the mine to reach capacity.

The short-term agreement will end on March 31.

Aquila Resources executive chairman Tony Poli previously told MiningNews.net sister publication ILN he was hopeful a long-term agreement could be made or an alternative option would be found.

Meanwhile, the miner’s plans to sell its Washpool hard coking coal project have been delayed until the March quarter.

The proposed mine, located northwest of Blackwater in the Bowen Basin, has the potential to produce 2.6Mt per annum of coal.

Aquila had originally planned to finalise the handover of Washpool by the end of 2011.

The mining lease approval for Washpool was on schedule for mid-2012.

Aquila said its Eagle Downs longwall mine was on schedule for first production in late 2015 after the mine development was approved in December.

The mine, a JV development with Vale, will be located in the Bowen Basin.

During the quarter, the mine was shortlisted for consideration for capacity in the stage 2A expansion of the Wiggins Island coal export terminal.

Successful applicants will be announced during the March 2012 quarter.

During the December quarter, vertical wells for the gas drainage drilling program at Eagle Downs were completed and work on the horizontal drilling commenced.

Construction of the site access roads and some site civil works were also undertaken.