Commenting on the deal, Macarthur Coal's CEO Ken Talbot said the acquisition is a major company milestone.

"The company outlook is very positive. Macarthur Coal's production entitlement will increase by approximately one million tonnes per annum as a consequence of the acquisition,” said CEO Ken Talbot.

"The fact that all remaining joint venture participants elected to increase their joint venture interests underlines the attractive pricing of the deal and endorses the expected profitability of the operations,” he said.

“Unification is expected to provide savings of up to A$4 million per annum to the joint venture. The increased flexibility offered by a two mine operation under one ownership structure means that administrative and coal processing costs are set to reduce and coal yield to improve."

Macarthur Coal's 73.3% joint venture interest involved the purchase of a 23.3% interest in Coppabella from AMCI and the sale of a 3.7% interest in Moorvale to one of the continuing joint venture participants.

Macarthur also announced the commencement of commissioning of the Moorvale coal preparation plant. The first train of Moorvale coal was loaded on 6 December 2003 and transported to the Dalyrmple Bay Coal Terminal for export.

"The Moorvale Mine is our second achievement in developing a greenfields project to production in a 12 month timeframe, the first being the Coppabella Mine,” said Talbot.

"The company has now achieved a production base of close to six million tonnes of production capacity under management, with an attributable production base of approximately four million tonnes of production capacity. In addition, the flexibility offered by a two mine operation provides increased delivery reliability to Macarthur Coal's customers."