This paper presents the state-of-the-art review of the development of longwall mining technology and equipment employed in Australian coal industry, the trends in longwall face equipment, development equipment and roof support technologies. Longwall mining technology has reached to a high standard in Australia and most improvemnets are expected in planning, monitoring and control. Expert systems for planning and diagnosis tasks have made longwall mining more reliable. High productivity continuous miners combined with rapid roof support systems have improved roadway development rate.
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