Newlands Northern underground mine – located in the Bowen basin of Queensland, Australia – is the new record holder for weekly and monthly production from longwall operations. In May 2009, it extracted 961,891 t from the longwall, beating Beltana’s previous record of 955,049 t set in November 2005, and also broke the weekly record, with production of 251,720 t in a single week ending May 5. Both mines are operated by Xstrata Coal.

Beltana still holds the daily record set in November 2005 with 47,353 t, achieved with a Bucyrus EL3000 shearer, but Newlands came close last month with a peak daily output of 45,935 t from the longwall.

The Newlands longwall is equipped with Bucyrus (a mining equipment manufacturer) machinery. It has an EL3000 shearer with installed power of 1,590 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 and is fully automation-capable.

The longwall is equipped with 147 two-leg roof supports with a yield load of 1,040 t with a working range of three to five metres. The face conveyor is a Bucyrus PF4, 1,332 mm wide with a 42 mm twin inboard chain with 2 x 855 kW CST drives. The longwall is controlled by Bucyrus PM 4 controllers. The 400 kW PF4/1532 coal crusher and 400 kW SK11/18 beam stage loader are also from Bucyrus.

The mine produces export thermal coal from underground and open-pit operations. It is located 130 km west of the coastal centre of Mackay and 171 km by rail from the Abbot Point coal terminal.