Anglo is keen to continue transferring the lessons in productivity at Moranbah North to its nearby Grosvenor mine which is due to begin longwall production in 2016.
“The greenfield Grosvenor metallurgical coal project in Queensland, Australia, continues to progress, with all permits and licences in place,” Anglo said.
“Construction has commenced onsite, with the access road complete and bulk earthworks underway.”
Metallurgical coal production for the company increased by 23% to 4.6Mt, with Moranbah, Foxleigh and Peace River Coal reaching record production through productivity improvements.
Moranbah North is developing its own underground technology solutions to lead Anglo American’s campaign of tripling company-wide coal production by 2020.
The mine has focused on the turnaround in longwall production and driveage development rates this year.
Moranbah North underground operations head Glen Britton said a standout improvement in the past 12 months included the longwall 109’s record-breaking three weeks, in which it averaged 94 hours in cutting time.
LW109 also recorded its best run-of-mine production month, totalling 570,922t.
Development at the mine hit record metres and it recorded a period of three weeks in excess of 144m per day.
“Improvements made to the standard and reliability of the coal clearance system, the main conveyor system that transports coal out of the mine, has been a large part of the success at Moranbah North,” Britton said.
The good result was partially offset by excessive rainfall causing flooding throughout the quarter which had a significant impact on production and waste removal at the Australian open cut operations.
Dawson and Callide operations were the worst affected as rain also caused the 43-day closure of the Moura rail line, affecting shipments from the Port of Gladstone.
The floods and rail closure are expected to put pressure on production and unit costs for the remainder of the year.
Export thermal coal production increased by 52%, driven by a number of productivity improvements at the Drayton operation in New South Wales.
Export thermal coal production in South Africa increased by 6% to 3.9Mt due to higher production at Zibulo after a reconfiguration of the wash plant to produce additional higher margin export coal, as well as improved machine availability at Mafube.
Domestic thermal coal production increased by 4% to 9.6Mt, owing to improved longwall production at New Denmark.
Production at the Cerrejon mine in Colombia decreased by 49%, largely due to a 32-day strike in February and March that preceded a successful resolution of a new three-year wage agreement.
