Also called low-profile mining, thin-seam mining is a relatively common practice in the US where it has been used for over 50 years to exploit seams of less than 1.5 metres in thickness. This technique produces over 100 million tonnes per annum from US mines.

Despite the fact that almost every Australian coalmine has thin seams, up until now seams of less than two metres in thickness have been left unmined as the skills, equipment and systems have not been available in Australia.

Many coal specialists regard thin-seam coal mining as an inevitable development in Australia for two fundamental reasons:

• Within the Australian coalmines, there is a substantial reduction in the number of thick coal seams available with the highest yielding and most easily accessible already having been mined using traditional methods.
• Coal contained in thin seams often has stronger metallurgical properties, and is therefore in high demand in the steel industry. This allows for blending with lower quality coal (thick residual seams) which often then can command a pricing premium.