Bounty uses a system called "bord and pillar" to mine thin seams. In the US, the method is called "room and pillar". This system was the preferred process of underground mining in Australia prior to the introduction of long wall mining equipment. The change was driven by the belief that bord and pillar mining can neither deliver the productivity nor retrieve the maximum amount of coal.

In bord and pillar mining, the coal is removed from the working faces as the "rooms" are mined. As the coal is removed, crosscuts between parallel rooms are made leaving pillars of coal as roof supports. The rooms and crosscuts are typically about 6.5 metres wide and of a height consistent with the seam.

Bounty favours the "cut and flit" technique of bord and pillar mining. This comprises cutting a room and pillar, and then shifting or "flitting" to the next room while the roof bolter secures the now vacant cut. This compares with typical Australian mining technique where following the cut the miner is shut down while the roof bolter secures the cut. The outcome is higher productivity and lower costs, leading to higher margins.

Bounty's aim is to show that its methods and equipment for thin-seams of coal are:

• more productive than traditional Australian bord and pillar mining operations
• more cost effective with the improved systems of work
• more flexible and adaptable to a wider range of mining conditions
• less capital intensive and enable a better return on assets