These will be the first Chinese supports ever to be put into service in Australia and have been brought in under an agreement between Longwall Associates Australia and China Coal Research Institute (CCRI), with assistance from Australian agent Wadam Industries.

Longwall Associates has an exclusive agreement with CCRI to sell Chinese designed and manufactured supports into the American and Australian markets.

Australian miners have long been concerned about the comparative quality of Chinese manufactured supports but Peter van Iersel, Longwall Associates Australia managing director said the Asian shields were designed to European test standards and manufactured to ISO 9001 standards. Also, they would be covered by similar warranties as other western equipment.

The three supports coming in to Australia are 4 leg, 800 tonne supports and were manufactured in three weeks. Longwall Associates contracted an independent weld inspector from Brisbane to supervise the shield’s manufacture in China.

The shields are destined for the Anglo Coal Central operation in central Queensland where they will be installed in the next panel by early May.

Each shield will be fitted out with mine-supplied valve gear, hosing and Chesterton seals. Joy Mining Machinery’s control system RS20 will be fitted to allow the supports to interface with the rest of the Joy face.

The mine’s approach is essentially a conservative one as the supports will be put to work in the tailgate where recovery of the face is easier, should anything go wrong. But there is no doubt the performance of the Chinese shields will be very closely monitored over the next 12 months by the industry at large.