Oaky North is part of the Oaky Creek complex comprising the Oaky No1 longwall and a small open-cut mine, in QueenslandÂ’s Bowen Basin. MIM announced that production from the complex produced 6.780Mt (MIM's 75% share) of product coal in the 12 months to June.
Oaky North's individual 7Mt performance sets a new Australian record for best full year results from a longwall. The mine held the previous record for the 12 month period ended December 2001, for a production result of 6.33Mt ROM.
Meanwhile, the Oaky No 1 extension mine has just begun operations. The new low profile longwall will mine the remaining German Creek Seam reserves, which are thinner than areas mined previously.
Commissioning of the new longwall has just been completed after start-up delays related to the shearer. A gearbox failure during commissioning in May caused delays but this has since been resolved. In recent weeks, between July 4-19, longwall production had to be suspended following a frictional ignition event.
Meanwhile, total product coal output from MIMÂ’s 75% owned Newlands-Collinsville-Abbot Point (NCA) mines was 14% better than the previous June quarter. The Newlands longwall mine produced 958,650t product coal (75% share).
Much of MIMÂ’s current strategic focus is geared towards doubling 2001 output to around 38Mtpa by 2006. Exploration during the quarter was targeted at extending mine life and converting resources into reserves. At Oaky Creek 4.8km2 of 3D seismic exploration was undertaken, resulting in an increase in coking coal reserves of 23% to 154Mt. Total resources for Oaky Creek are now 498Mt including 210Mt inferred resources.
Work at NCA has lifted total coal reserves by 29% to 147Mt. Measured resources (inclusive of reserves) are up 60% to 306Mt and total resources are now 766Mt. Exploration has focused on the Newlands northern underground project where 2.7km2 of 3D seismic was completed.
The Northern underground mine is being developed to replace longwall production from the southern underground when it runs out of coal at the end of the 2005 financial year. MIM said the new project would deliver substantial growth in underground coal production at Newlands.
Northern underground will be developed as a punch longwall operation with access to longwall panels to be gained from the pit floor in the existing open cut. This will eliminate the need to spend capital to drive mains into the deposit. MIM hopes to mine first longwall coal in 2006 with production output planned at 7.5-8Mtpa ROM coal.
“Capital efficient investment in our existing operations and increased production have delivered significantly improved profitability from our coal operations,” MIM managing director Vince Gauci said.
“The initiatives announced today satisfy our strict investment criteria to ensure value creation for our shareholders,” he said.
MIM has also announced plans to proceed with Stage 2 of the feasibility for the proposed Rolleston thermal coal mine in central Queensland. Work on a 200,000 tonne sample pit and customer combustion trials will be carried out during the next six months allowing for a decision on project commitment in the first half of 2003.
"Rolleston has a low expected capital cost and low mining cost, due to low stripping ratios, and no washing requirement. This gives us confidence that the project can be developed and operated competitively against other similar resources in Indonesia and China, provided it is supported with globally competitive offsite costs,” Gauci said.
