The Maules Creek open cut project started railing coal three months ahead of schedule in mid-December with 40 train loads sent to Newcastle by late January.

Construction of the coal handling and preparation plant and coal reclaimers remain before the mine is completed with first stage capacity of 6.5 million tonnes per annum run of mine, expected in mid-March. The mining workforce is forecasted to increase from 151 to 180 workers by this time.

Orders for the extra fleet to expand the mine to 8.5Mtpa in early 2016 have been placed with delivery expected in December.

“Total capital expenditure for the project was originally budgeted at $767 million including contingencies on a 100% basis,” Whitehaven said.

“Whitehaven currently expects capex for the project to be about $25 million under the original budget.”

Over to the Narrabri longwall mine in the Gunnedah region, Whitehaven notched up record saleable coal production of 3.052 million tonnes in the first half despite the loss of six weeks of output due to a scheduled longwall changeout.

“Early in the half the longwall control systems were upgraded and processes were improved,” the company said.

“By implementing the upgraded software, full shearer automation was attained enabling longwall productivity and horizon control to improve significantly. The longwall will continue to operate with this system in the future.”

Whitehaven also commented further on the prospect of widening the longwall face instead of sticking to long-held plans to introduce full seam-extracting, longwall top coal caving technology.

“A decision was made during the quarter to pursue the feasibility of extending the longwall face to about 400 metres as the superior optimisation path for Narrabri in lieu of top coal caving,” the company said.

“The key attributes of a wider longwall face compared to top coal caving are lower operating risk, higher incremental production and reduced underground development, all of which can be achieved for a similar capital cost. A decision on the project is likely in the current half.”

Other results, finance talks

Overall ROM output from Whitehaven’s Gunnedah Basin operations (including the Tarrawonga, Rocglen and Werris Creek open cuts) was down 4% year-on-year in the recent half to 4.46Mt, while saleable coal output was up 9% to 4.43Mt.

Total coal sales were up 5% YoY to 4.7Mt for the half, but revenue fell 8%YoY to $371.8 million as coal prices continued to fall.

An 8% YoY fall in average operating costs to $63 per tonne (free on board) was also not enough to compensate for the weak coal market.

Whitehaven posted a total net loss for the half of $77.9 milllion – more than five times larger than the loss for the corresponding half of 2014. However, when significant items were not included the net loss came to $12.4 million.

The coal miner ended 2014 with a $111.6 million cash position and $200 million in undrawn facilities plus a net debt position of $887.4 million at a gearing ratio of 22%.

“Whitehaven is progressing the refinancing of its debt facilities and expects to be able to complete the activity in the current half,” Whitehaven managing director Paul Flynn said.

“While not ignoring the current weakness in coal markets, we remain confident that coal has a growing role to play in the world’s future energy requirements and that the high quality coals produced by Whitehaven will be in strong demand from Whitehaven’s key Asian markets for many years into the future.”