Japanese trading firm Sojitz expects to return to coal exports from its Minerva coal mine in central Queensland's Bowen Basin coal area to Gladstone port over January 25-26 with the return of coal train solutions on the Blackwater train, a spokesman for the mine stated on Friday.


"We are expecting our first trains to get here somewhere around January 25 to 26 as well as to get back to our allocated degrees of trains rapidly," an Australia-based spokesman for the mine claimed.

"There are still some repair works that requirement to be done [to the Blackwater train] We are waiting on everybody else to return on," he included.

Transport from the Minerva mine to Gladstone port were interfered with by the closure of QR National's 422 kilometres long Blackwater rail system on December 27 following substantial flooding in central areas of Queensland.

Coal train solutions started to return to the eastern area of the Blackwater system on January 19, however driver QR National stated in a declaration today that they will certainly not return to the Minerva mine which is at the western end of the Blackwater train till January 25.

water treatment chemicals at Minerva recouped relatively swiftly adhering to hefty rains and flooding in the Bowen Container coal field in December and the mine has accumulated considerable supplies of coal.

"The Minerva mine has actually been in manufacturing for quite time. We have actually been operating at full-budgeted manufacturing and returned on our feet extremely promptly," the mine representative claimed.

Minerva has the capability to create 2.8 million mt/year of mainly export thermal coal, according to the mine's representative. The mine has customers in Japan and Korea, according to market resources.

Sojitz raised its ownership in Minerva to 96% on December 20 when it got Yancoal Australia's 51% stake in the mine situated 45 km south of Emerald in central Queensland. Sojitz had an existing 45% passion in the Minerva coal mine and also the remaining 4% stake is had by Korea Resources Company.