Aquila started legal proceedings against Vale last year, as Vale unexpectedly pulled out of arrangements to secure 4 million tonnes per annum of port and associated rail capacity to export through Abbot Point in 2013.

While this legal action is ongoing, Aquila provided updates on port capacity opportunities in its recent quarterly report.

An expression of interest from the Eagle Downs JV has been lodged for the stage 2 expansion of the Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal, expected to be available between 2015 and 2016.

Another expression of interest was submitted for the expanded capacity at the Abbot Point Coal Terminal, expected to come online in 2016.

The JV also remains in the queue for the next expansion at the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, which Aquila does not expect to be available before “late 2016 at the earliest”.

Outside of the port and rail logistics, considerable progress has been made on the hard coking coal project which hosts 254Mt of proved and probable reserves in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.

The project has received final environmental approval, while Aquila said all tenders for project work packages have been completed and submitted.

Major studies for the coal handling and preparation plant, surface and underground infrastructure, and underground engineering are also complete.

The project has enough scope for a 47-year mine life based on a single longwall operation.

But Aquila plans to release the outcomes of expansion studies this quarter, and has previously flagged the potential to bring in a second longwall to increase product coal output from 4.6Mtpa to more than 7Mtpa.