Coal production was down from the 2.8Mt posted in the last quarter, however production figures rose 335% on the prior corresponding period, largely due to the acquisition in August 2002 of the Powercoal mines from the NSW State Government.

After a record year in 2002, Springvale continued to be a star performer with longwall production from panel 408 resuming two weeks ahead of schedule in mid-February. The mine continued its solid pre-Christmas performance, again breaking its development metres “in advance”

February was also a busy month at Angus Place where production from longwall panel 27 recommenced behind schedule, due to poor floor conditions on the installation face. Despite the set-back, the mine powered on to produce 305,000t, down on the December quarter.

This year contracts had been awarded to DBT Australia for two identical face conveyors to replace existing equipment at Springvale and Angus Place in the 2004 financial year. The construction contract for the new ventilation shaft has also recently been awarded.

After spending much of the financial year on development work negotiating through fault zones, Clarence returned to partial extraction in mid-March. Centennial said further development in opening up an existing lease has set the mine up to benefit from partial pillar extraction over the next four years.

The introduction of a “super” panel at Charbon mine during the December quarter has continued to boost production with the mine ahead of budget for the second consecutive quarter.

Production from panel 20 at Newstan mine had a slow restart during mid-February due to initial difficulties with overhauled equipment, but has now moved up to full production. During the longwall changeover, the armoured face conveyor and a stage loader were upgraded and a new drift conveyor belt installed to remove the bottleneck and enable the mine to consistently achieve optimum output.

Development at the Mandalong mine has continued with construction started in early March of the “men and materials” access drift. Topsoil stripping and excavation of the portal were 50 percent completed at the end of the quarter.

In-seam longhole exploration boreholes to delineate geological structures and confirm orientation for initial longwalls was completed in mid-January and planning for the next phase of in-seam drilling to improve conditions for the first block of longwalls has been completed with drilling to begin shortly.

With all changeover longwall mines fully operational and already registering strong March and April performances, Centennial has predicted a heavy production and sales period over the next two months.