The EL3000 Caterpillar shearer on the longwall is capable of cutting at a nameplate capacity of 5000 tonnes per hour. It was painted pink to symbolise a new partnership Rio Tinto forged with the McGrath Foundation and Caterpillar to support breast cancer patients and their families late last year.

The Kestrel Mine Extension project involved the construction of a new longwall, infrastructure such as a 7.9 kilometre overland conveyor, and upgrades to the existing coal-handling and preparation plant. This will allow a new series of underground panels to be mined to the south of the existing operation.

The extension will add 20 years to the life of the mine, Rio’s only underground coal operation, its general manager of operations, John Coughlan, said.

“After four years of construction, seeing the longwall cutting coal is an exciting milestone and marks the start of a long future for Kestrel mine,” he said.

“Our new 375m longwall was fully assembled for testing on the surface before being pulled back apart to go underground. This longwall will deliver a range of safety and production improvements, including automation.”

Rio processes high-quality coking coal for export using the longwall method and expects to see its first shipment from the new area of the mine leave Australia in coming weeks.

“Over the coming year-and-a-half we’ll see a gradual transition of production as our existing operation, known as Kestrel North, winds down and the new Kestrel South operation ramps up,” Coughlan said.

“Kestrel South is expected to reach full capacity by the end of 2014 and produce an average of 5.7 million tonnes per annum over the next 20 years.”

Construction of Kestrel South started in August 2008 and will be fully complete in September.

It has taken more than 6 million man hours to build using more than 3400 tonnes of steel and took longer than the company first envisaged.

Coal has been mined out in the “100 series” and “200 series” underground development panels and the “300 series” panels are now being finished. Kestrel South is expected to mine the “400 series” panels until 2032.

The mine has about 115 million tonnes in coal reserves, providing options for ongoing mining.

“Not only will this 20-year extension provide a secure future for our workforce of more than 400 employees and long-term supply for our customers, it will allow Kestrel Mine to continue its significant contribution to the community,” Coughlan said.

“In 2012, our operation purchased goods and services from 169 suppliers in the region, injecting over $130 million into the local economy. Since 2003, more than $2 million has been invested in local community projects through the Kestrel Mine Community Development Fund and the Kestrel Mine Aboriginal Community Development Fund.”

Kestrel mine’s main export customers are in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Europe, India and China.

Rio Tinto Coal Australia manages Kestrel Mine on behalf of the joint venture partners Queensland Coal Pty Limited and Mitsui Kestrel Coal Investment.

A 7.9km overland conveyor carries 3500t of coal per hour. Each coal train will carry 8400t of coal, travelling 300km from Kestrel mine to the Port of Gladstone.