By Rhiannon Hoyle
SYDNEY--Yancoal Australia Ltd. (YAL.AU) said Tuesday that
production at its Yarrabee and Middlemount open cut mines, in
central Queensland state, had been disrupted by heavy rainfall in
the region at the weekend.
Output at the Middlemount mine in particular, where one of the
banks was breached by floodwaters, is expected to be affected for
at least three weeks, the company said in a statement to the
Australian Securities Exchange. Normal operations at the Yarrabee
mine are expected to recommence this week, it said.
Flooding, torrential rain and tornados have battered Queensland
in recent days as a storm the Bureau of Meteorology refers to as
ex-tropical cyclone Oswald moves south along the east coast.
Separately, Xstrata Coal, a unit of Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN), said
there had been disruptions to some of the rail lines it uses to
transport its coal to port from its Oaky Creek and Rolleston mines
in the resource rich Bowen Basin. "We are monitoring this and
looking at contingency plans," the company said in an emailed
statement.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
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