may face somedifficulty in getting the sale of its Grosvenor coal mine in Queensland, Australia, over theline following two roof falls that occurred within a month of each other.
Themost recent incident happened in a longwall of the Grosvenor underground coalmine near Moranbah on July 4.
"Minemanagement advised inspectors that at approximately 9:30 p.m. there was a fallof ground from the roof in a 16-meter section of the longwall," aspokesman for the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines said ina July 15 statement emailed to SNL Metals & Mining.
"Threecoal workers were in the general area at the time but were under protectivecover at the main gate end of the longwall. There were no injuries and at notime was access to the face or ventilation affected; or a risk of workers beingtrapped inside the area of fall."
Thisfollows a roof fall incident June 5 in a longwall development panel of theGrosvenor mine.
"Minemanagement advised the inspectorate on 6 June that at approximately 11:00 p.m.the previous evening there had been a fall of ground from the roof in one14-meter section of an underground roadway," the spokesperson for theDepartment of Natural Resources and Mines said.
Therewere four workers operating with continuous mining machinery in the area at thetime of the incident.
Aspokesperson for Anglo American said in a July 15 statement emailed to SNL thatthere was no injury to personnel or damage to equipment in the incident.
"Workin the immediate area of the incident was ceased, however the remainder of themine continued with operations," the spokesperson said.
Thespokesperson told SNL that normal commissioning operations have not beenimpacted.
Minesinspectors are working with mine management to investigate the cause of bothincidents and monitor work to re-support the roof before fallen rock debris isremoved.
AngloAmerican signaled in mid-February that it was in talks for the potential saleof its Moranbahand Grosvenor metallurgical coal mines.
BHPBilliton Mitsubishi Alliance, a 50/50 joint venture between and , is understoodto be the leadingbidder for the two mines after Glencore Plc was cut from the shortlist because its bid was too low.
Inlate June, the Financial Timesreported that the sale is expected to be completed "within weeks," andnot by the end of June as previously thought.
AngloAmerican deliveredits first metallurgical coal at Grosvenor in May. The company expects the mineto produce 3.2 million saleable tonnes this year, and at full capacity produce7.5 million saleable tonnes each year.