have the ability to shear upwards has led to the option to modify the typical cutting cycle in an attempt to improve the productivity of conventional underground coal sections. The utilisation of the Sandvik MC 470 machine is an example of an instance where the operation of the machine enables the utilisation of a more productive cutting cycle. This is accomplished by enabling the machine to shear both down and up by sumping the cutterhead near the floor and near the roof, respectively. The modified cutting cycle typically progresses as follows: The continuous miner operator trams the machine towards the face with a lowered spade and cutterhead The cutterhead is sumped to a depth of 700 mm and the upwards shearing operation is initiated The upwards shearing is continued until the cutterhead reaches the predetermined seam height The cutterhead is then sumped into the top of the face to a depth of 700 mm again and the downwards shearing operation is initiated The downwards shearing is continued until the predetermined floor level is reached The continuous miner is then trammed backwards in order to trim to ensure a level floor Once the floor has been levelled the cutting cycle is repeated by sumping the cutterhead near the floor again and repeating the above-mentioned operation When the heading has advanced to the maximum allowable distance before the roof has to be supported, the cutterhead is raised to the predetermined seam height and the roof is trimmed while the machine is trammed backwards, away from the face Key performance indicators Number of shuttle car loads is defined as the total number of fully loaded shuttle cars that were loaded at the continuous miner and subsequently tipped at the feeder breaker. Average shuttle car load time refers to the average time in seconds that was necessary to load a shuttle car to its maximum coal-carrying capacity. Average shuttle car change time refers to the average time in seconds that was necessary for an unloaded shuttle car to be repositioned behind the continuous miner after the previously loaded shuttle car trammed away from the machine towards the tipping point. Conveyor on time refers to the total time in minutes that the flight chain conveyor on the continuous miner was running. Cutter ON - Conveyor OFF - bunker operation [min]– bunker operation refers to the total time in minutes that ONLY the cutterhead was running