Operations were suspended at Australia's 5.3mn t/yr Middlemount coking coal and pulverised coal injection (PCI) mine in Queensland following a wall collapse that killed one worker earlier this week.
Middlemount said it is co-operating with an investigation into the incident by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland.
The shutdown is unlikely to have an impact on supplies in the second-tier coking coal or PCI markets unless the duration is longer than usual after such incidents, market participants said. No details were available on the severity of the wall collapse.
Middlemount is a joint venture between US-based mining firm Peabody Energy and Chinese-controlled Australian producer Yancoal.

