The longwall horizon control has been rectified after the successful implementation of the recovery plan, the company said.
As a result, Narrabri’s full-year ROM production on a 100% basis is now expected to be in the range of 5-5.2 million tonnes instead of the 4.8-5Mt previously forecast.
Full-year saleable coal production for Whitehaven on a 100% basis is expected to be in the range of 10-10.2Mt instead of the 9.8-10Mt.
Whitehaven CEO Paul Flynn said: “It is very pleasing to report that the recovery plan adopted to re-establish production at Narrabri has been successfully executed by the team.
“This is a great result for Whitehaven and reflects highly on the team effort by all employees at Narrabri.”
Following an evaluation of the status of the longwall by management, external advisers and OEM support, a recovery plan was developed and implemented.
It was expected that the recovery plan would be completed safely within a timeframe so as not to impact the company’s ability to meet forecast ROM production of 5.5Mt (100% basis) from the Narrabri mine. However, with the revised recovery plan, Narrabri’s ROM coal production on a 100% basis for FY2014 was reforecast to be in the range of 4.8-5Mt.
The costs of the recovery plan are not expected to be material, the company said.
“Appropriate controls to mitigate a recurrence of this event have been implemented and discussions are continuing with the longwall supplier about control systems for consistent horizon control when cutting the tailgate end of the longwall face.”
