The mine’s risks also include the timely delivery of the upgrades to the belt conveyor system, the successful relocation of the longwall from LWA7 to LWA8, and underground mining conditions.
The New South Wales mine allocated $42 million in 2013 for capital expenditure, including $10 million associated with the Stage 3 project, which underpins the future of the operation.
The 2014 operations focus was on ramping up the Stage 3 project and delivering 1.9-2.1 million tonnes of production by targeting the Greta seam. The Greta seam is 400-600 metres below the surface.
“This is the result of more than four years’ work to bring this new mining area into production and marks a significant milestone for the Austar mine,” Yancoal said in its annual report.
“Significant planning and investment, including upgraded infrastructure and logistics, have been made to deconstrain the operation and help achieve more consistent production and minimise inherent risks.”
In the first half of 2013, there was a four-month planned outage as the mine shifted production from the mined out Stage 2 to the new Stage 3 area, where longwall production started in June 2013.
After setting new ROM production records in August and September, difficult roof conditions slowed production later in the year.
A sales force majeure was called in December, which was subsequently lifted in January.
“Although conditions for longwall mining and development remain challenging in the new area, it is anticipated that production rates will increase when the upgraded belt conveyor infrastructure for Stage 3 is completed in the June quarter of 2014,” the company said in its annual report.
Given the events of the past week, this now looks unlikely.
Yancoal also expected mining conditions to improve with the formation of the second longwall in Stage 3.
One longwall move was planned for 2014 and scheduled for the June quarter.
The LEAN process started its rollout in 2013.
Yancoal said it is expected that the benefits of the program would be realised across the operation over the next year, particularly via productivity benefits.
The initial focus is on improving development rates in all the gate roads and mains to minimise production disruption associated with longwall panel changeovers.
