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queensland's coal mine's flooding

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Aquila, Vale declare force majeure
David Fickling
From:Dow Jones Newswires
December 03, 20104:56PM
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VALE and Aquila Resources have declared force majeure at their joint-owned Isaac Plains coal mine.
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology today issued a severe weather warning for the coal-producing region of Queensland as La Nina rainfall threatened to put further upward pressure on coal prices.
Australia's east coast, which accounts for around two-thirds of the world's exports of the coking coal used in steelmaking, has been hit by unusually heavy rains in recent weeks, a common effect of the La Nina weather pattern.
Rainfall at Moranbah, in the heart of the Bowen Basin coal-producing region, totalled 193.3 millimetres in November, the highest total for the month since 1998, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Since Monday, 61.9 millimetres has fallen at Moranbah, the Bureau said.

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According to a severe weather warning issued by the bureau today, "heavy rain leading to localised flash flooding is possible about the Central Highland and Coalfields district".
Rainfall is a problem for coal mines as it can flood open-pit workings and processing facilities, cut rail lines and cause ground to become waterlogged and unstable, making excavation difficult.
A spokesperson for Rio Tinto's coal division said: "We've had some rain impacts but it's been quite scattered and it's fairly typical for this time of year."
The miner had not been forced to declare force majeure, a legal clause which frees miners from liability for shortfalls in delivery that are beyond their control, she said.
Spokespeople for BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Xstrata,Wesfarmers and Macarthur Coal, the Bowen Basin's other major coal miners, did not have immediate details of the rain impact on their operations.