This is what lies deep beneath the ground in Narrabri Shire.
As Whitehaven Coal announces its first longwall changeout at Turrawan has been completed, readers have been given an insight into what many workers see below.
The longwall started cutting coal in longwall panel two on Saturday on schedule, with the commissioning process running smoothly, managing director Paul Flynn said.
The changeout presented the op portunity to make a number of improvements to the longwall and undertake maintenance, Mr Flynn said.
Weekly production is expected to return to regular production levels over the coming weeks, he added.
“Given we have a relatively new team and being our first longwall changeout, this is an outstanding achievement by the team at Narrabri,” he said.
“We were obviously well aware of the focus this changeout was getting from a shareholder and industry perspective, so we were very keen to ensure we met our schedule, and the team has done that handsomely.”
Changeout to the longwall mining operation is a major undertaking.
“The changeouts are a regular part of longwall mining and are anticipated to occur every six to 12 months, when the longwall completes mining in one panel and needs to be relocated to the next panel to continue production.
“The changeout comprised relocation of over 10,000 tonnes of equipment from the completed longwall one panel to the next mining area.
“This work was predominately carried out at approximately 180 metres underground, with around 30 major components needing to come out of the mine for repairs, upgrades or general overhauls.
“Longwall panel two contains 3.2 million tonnes of thermal and steel making specification coal, and is expected to be mined at an annualised rate of six million tonnes,” Mr Flynn said.