Australian mining company Whitehaven Coal has cut down its production estimation to 9.8 million tons and 10 million tons from previously claimed 10.7 million tons for the fiscal 2014.
The miner has cited operational issues at Narrabri mine in New South Wales and geotechnical challenges at Rocglen for the drop in estimated coal production.
Earlier in March 2014, the company had commenced mining in the third longwall panel at Narrabri on schedule and the production was ramped up.
Whitehaven has added two additional roof supports to the tailgate end of the longwall for panel three installations to bypass the installation of secondary support in the tailgate roadway in a bid to reduce costs and better safety.
The company had to cease the production after the floor horizon control at the tailgate end of the longwall face-line was lost creating a difference between the floor levels of the longwall face-line and the tailgate development roadway.
The miner, however, came up with a recovery plan through evaluation of the status of the longwallwith the help of management, external advisors and OEM support.
Although the company expected run-of-mine production of 5.5 million tons would be attainable, the altering conditions drove the company to lower the forecast to be in the range of 4.8 million tons to 5 million tons.
Whitehaven managing director and CEO Paul Flynn said that the company is confident that the recovery plan being executed would deliver a return to production in the indicated timeframe.
"All necessary resources have been committed to resolving the issue expeditiously and the Narrabri team is being supported by the appropriate external service providers. Our priority is the safety of our people as we return to normal operations," added Flynn.