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SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia’s Queensland Rail said on Monday that it expects a railway hit by flooding this month, which disrupted zinc shipments from major producers such as Glencore, to be fixed as early as the end of April, sooner than it had expected.

The 1,000-km (620-mile) rail line is used by miners including Glencore, MMG Ltd and South 32 to carry zinc and lead concentrate from the Mt Isa region to port at Townsville, as well as by fertilizer producer Incitec Pivot Ltd.

“Our coordinated recovery crew will allow us to condense the Mount Isa Line’s repair time down to eight to twelve weeks, subject to favorable weather and construction conditions,” Queensland Rail Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nick Easy said in a statement.
“That would have us reopening the line between late April and mid-May 2019,” he added. Queensland Rail owns the line and had previously said it expected the repairs to be finished in under six months.