The Hunter Valley mine, owned by Xstrata, produced 7.05Mt for the year, a 13% improvement on last year. The improvement was consistent with the jump from 2004 to 2005.
The mine was the only New South Wales mine in the top five.
Xstrata mines were also next on this year’s list, with Oaky Creek No. 1 and Oaky North propelling themselves into the number two and three spots.
Oaky Creek No. 1 produced 4.76Mt, a 17% improvement on 2004-05. The mine had previously forecast 6Mt for the 2006 calendar year with a second longwall installed at the operation to mine a previously overlooked section of the resource.
Oaky North's 4.7Mt was down 1 million tonnes on 2004-05 but was still good enough to get it into third place. The mine had forecast production of 5.2Mt in the 2006 calendar year.
Still in Queensland, the fourth biggest producer for 2005-06 was Kestrel. The Rio Tinto-owned operation’s output was down 7% on 2004-05. The mine expects to produce 5.6Mt raw coal in 2006 and is looking to further improve production into the future, with a wider face planned for its 400 series blocks due to be mined in 2012.
Anglo Coal's Moranbah North operation took fifth spot in this year's rankings with 4.27Mt ROM coal, consistent with 2004-05.
Rounding out those breaking the 4Mt ROM coal mark was BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance's Crinum operation in Queensland with 4.09Mt.
New mines on the list included Broadmeadow, which ramped up in September 2005 and produced 2.3Mt for 2005-06; Dendrobium, which produced 3.09Mt; and Mandalong, which was just shy of 3Mt.
Delta was a new entrant, starting longwall production in June 2006 and producing 87,200t by the end of that month.
The Newlands operation in Queensland made the move from south to north, with longwall production finishing up at Southern in August 2005 and ramping up at Northern in February 2006. The Northern operation produced 2.51Mt.
Australia's longwall mines produced 78.341Mt ROM coal during 2005-06, ever so slightly up on 2004-05 when the mines produced 78.261Mt, according to Coal Services' annual statistical review.
