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Xstrata spokesman James Rickards told International Longwall News today that the combination of operational difficulties led to the declaration, which would continue until the situation was stabilised.

“There has been some stop-start activity at the longwall face after one or two short rockfalls near the face that they have subsequently tidied up,” Rickards said.

“No one was injured and the risk was minimal – it was an operational difficulty as opposed to anything of concern for our individuals.

“The production difficulties are related to the impacts upon machinery and equipment after the rockfalls and there has been ongoing stop-start action.”

Rickards said the recent heavy rainfall has also disrupted the transport of coal from the longwall and opencut mines to the preparation plant.

“It wasn’t that the activities underground were extensive enough to warrant force majeure … a lot of it was due to the haulage of coal above ground,” he said.

This latest disruption to Australian coal exports, coupled with ongoing port congestion and expansion works, has increased speculation that major Japanese and Korean buyers will begin looking elsewhere for a more reliable source of coal.

Australia’s big coal players – BHP Billiton, Xstrata and Coal & Allied – declared force majeure on Newcastle coal exports earlier this month due to heavy flooding in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales.

While BHP and Xstrata lifted the force majeure on Newcastle exports earlier this week, Coal & Allied’s still remains in place.