Mastermyne has restarted surface works at the Crinum coal mine in Queensland following an incident involving a fall of ground in September.
The fall of ground occurred about 400 metres down the mine’s 800-metre conveyor drift with the affected zone contained to a small area, according to the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) presentation.
“Over the past three months we have safely remediated several similar localised falls in this area, with this being the last area to be repaired,” the presentation stated.
“Access to both drifts is temporarily suspended pending the finalisation of investigations and completion of the safe re-entry plan.”
In September, following the incident, Mastermyne managing director Tony Caruso said every effort would be made to understand the cause and ensure it doesn’t happen again.
“The safety and wellbeing of our staff is one of our core values. The cause of the incident will be thoroughly investigated, and we will continue to support the family and our work colleagues,” Caruso said.
This incident is predicted to delay the mine’s first coal production by about 12 weeks.
The mine had been progressing through re-establishment after Mastermyne was handed a $660 million mining services contract from mine owner Sojitz Blue in May 2021.
Despite this delay, the mine’s production targets for financial year 2022 (FY22) remain unchanged.
The AGM was highly complimentary of Mastermyne’s acquisition of Pybar Mining Services in September.
In discussing the outlook for Mastermyne over the coming years, chairman Colin Bloomfield said several factors would lead to the company’s impending growth.
“The inclusion of Crinum, Cook and Pybar will roughly triple our revenues in FY23 when compared to FY21,” Bloomfield said at the AGM.
“Importantly, the combination of these businesses will provide more opportunity for the employees of our company, and help us to attract and retain the talent that continues to deliver these excellent results.”