In particular, although Queensland Coal’s metallurgical coal production was hit by severe weather on the east coast during March, flood mitigation infrastructure enabled a full supply capacity recovery by Q1’s end. The South Walker Creek project, meanwhile, witnessed record Q1 production after a wash plant upgrade was built in 2012.
Q1 Queensland operations also saw the completion of the Daunia mine ahead of schedule. The mine’s ramp-up, coupled with the pending commissioning of Caval Ridge will increase Queensland Coal business capacity 100% to 66 million annual metric tons by the end of Q4 2014. A planned longwall move at the Dendrobium mine led to lower production at Illawarra Coal in Q1 2013, however; another longwall move is also scheduled at the West Cliff mine during Q3 2013.
New South Wales Energy Coal continued to benefit from the ramp up of the RX1 project with record production during the nine months ending in Q1, even though 2013 was also impacted by harsh weather.
