Contract mining and engineering service provider Redpath will operate the 8m diameter TBM to excavate two drifts, instead of the traditional method of using a road header.

Anglo American Grosvenor project manager Glenn Tonkin said his team was excited to be pioneering the innovative tunnelling method to build the 5 million tonne per annum Grosvenor mine.

“The $40 million earth pressure balance machine is under assembly onsite and will be ready to break ground next month,” Tonkin said.

“The innovative TBM tunnelling method will allow us to reach the coal seam by December this year, bringing us that step closer to longwall production in late 2016.”

Redpath coal general manager Gavin Ramage believed using the TBM would provide a safer, quicker and more stable excavation option.

“The tunnel-boring machine is expected to excavate drifts at least three times faster than a road header, which provides much quicker access to the coal,” Ramage said.

“There are also a number of safety benefits associated with using the TBM, mainly from the highly stable and durable ground support required, which has a 50-year life expectancy, as opposed to the less stable support used for a road header.”

When using a TBM, the ground support required is similar to that of cross-city tunnels, highly stable and long-term, which results in a safer environment for the teams of workers that access the drift and operate the conveyor system.

It also removes the traditional need to rehabilitate the drift support every 10 years, as the TBM support has a life expectancy five times that of the road header – and it excavates and supports at the same time.

Construction started on the Grosvenor project in Moranbah, central Queensland in July 2012

The project will require more than 3 million cubic metres of earthmoving and more than 13,000 cubic metres of reinforced concrete.

Redpath will be at AIMEX in Sydney on August 20-24 at stand H1250.