Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka S.A. has reached a record level of daily yield at 16,800 tonnes from the panel excavated by the newly-launched ploughing system meant for mining thin coal seams. This is an industry world record of sorts.
    
     Bogdanka’s ploughing system was launched in late March this year. It is intended for mining thin coal seams, that is seams no more than 1.5 metres high. The investment in the technology, valued at nearly EUR 40 million, was one of the Company's issue objectives upon her stock market debut in June 2009. The investment is now exceeding previous expectations. The ploughing system has enabled Bogdanka to achieve a large increase in commercial coal yield.
    
     “The ploughing system we bought from the American company Bucyrus was to achieve a yield of 10,000 tonnes per day, according to our tender assumptions. During the launch phase, we have achieved 13,000 tonnes. The current record of 16,894 tonnes in twenty-four hours is very impressive. As far as I know, that is the world record, world’s highest efficiency of a plough system in underground mining in a panel with a main gate and an arch lining arrangement,” said Zbigniew Stopa, the Vice-President of the Management Board for Technical Affairs. “Naturally, the favourable parameters of the currently excavated deposit were also a factor here,” Mr. Stopa added.
     
     Experts estimate that 30% to 35% of the country’s “black gold” deposits (approximately one billion tonnes) may be located in thin coal seams. Bogdanka's estimates state that the excavation of thin coal seams with the ploughing technology will extend the mine’s recoverable reserves by approx. 100 million tonnes and extend the deposit exploitation period by 10 years.
    
     “The Company has always declared that its primary goal is innovation leading to improved efficiency. Implementing the ploughing technology, one of the most important investments included in the issue prospectus of Bogdanka, was to serve this precise goal. It has enabled us to improve the excavation structure, or in other words, there is now a better proportion of coal in the output hauled to the surface. Bogdanka’s aspiration is to be not only a domestic, but a European leader in the mining industry; still, I did not expect this world record to fall so soon. Our experts have achieved this in five months of the system’s launch. This in itself speaks volumes,” stressed Mirosław Taras, President of the Management Board of LW Bogdanka S.A.