The Australian industry faces increasing pressure from emerging coal producers who have lower operating costs and require less infrastructure investment, according to Middleton, who is the managing director of Indonesian and African coal developer Cokal.

“Australia has a reputation for good safety, reliability and innovation,” he said.

“We all need to reflect on these. Where are we going with costs, productivity, mining and safety in the future?

“The intelligent use of information is one thing that Australian coal miners do really well.”

Reliable equipment, technological improvements, building a company for success, productive equipment and efficient planning are needed for increased uptime, he said.

Middleton said yesterday’s presentation by Andy Mifflin on the GVK-Hancock Coal Kevin’s Corner project demonstrated how planning for large-scale projects with attention to detail on infrastructure, mining and personnel issues was one way to establish world-class projects in remote areas.

Another way was sourcing longwall and mining equipment from new suppliers, as Peter Ross of Lake Coal did at the Chain Valley Coal mine in New South Wales with the purchase of Chinese equipment.

Costs of Chain Valley Coal equipment were 50% less than their US counterparts with no compromise in reliability, Ross said.

The capital intensity of Australian projects is increasing at a rapid rate while coal prices were fluctuating wildly, making it imperative to use planning, maintenance and purchasing models that could accommodate the volatility, according to Middleton.

“I can remember in the early-2000s there was a sub-$20 per tonne sale by Rio Tinto Coal,” he said.

“But according to Wood McKenzie research, there has been quite a big increase in costs, too.”

Gary Gibson spoke about the ACARP project that is making intelligent use of data and information to improve roadway development rates by developing automated continuous miners.