Xstrata Coal’s Newlands Northern underground mine has broken the record for weekly and monthly production from longwall operations.
In May 2009, the mine extracted 961,891 tonnes from the longwall, beating Beltana’s previous record of 955,049 tonnes set in November 2005.
Both mines are operated by Xstrata Coal.
The mine, located in the Bowen basin, Queensland, also took the weekly record away from Beltana with production of 251,720 tonnes in a single week ending May 5, 2009.
The mine produces export thermal coal from underground and open-cut operations.
Beltana still holds the daily record set in November 2005 with 47,353 tonnes; however, Newlands came close last month with a peak daily output of 45,935 tonnes.
Both mines are equipped with a Bucyrus EL3000 shearer.
The Newlands longwall has installed power of 1590 kW and cutting power of 2 x 650 kW.
The shearer has a Jumbotrack 2000 haulage system with haulage power of 2 x 125 kW.
The shearer is fully automation-capable.
The longwall is equipped with 147 two-leg roof supports with a yield load of 1040 tonnes with a working range of three to five meters.