The last decade has seen a spectacular increase in the growth of the Australian coal industry, primarily as a result of the development of new mines in the Bowen basin of central Queensland. Production from the Bowen basin increased from less than 0.5 million MT in 1963 to over 14 million MT in 1973. This growth followed the discovery of deposits of premium high-grade metallurgical coal ideally suited for Japanese coke-oven blends. These coals have recently begun to be used in European steel mills, and 2 million MT were exported to this market in 1973. Also contributing to the industry's rapid growth are the amenability of the deposits to extraction by opencut methods and the proximity of the coalfields to good harbors in relatively unpopulated areas. Exploration by state governments in the established coal basins has resulted in a dramatic upgrading of previous reserve estimates. Recent exploration has been directed to less well-known coal basins and is expected to increase the country's known reserves further. Large deposits of low-grade steam coal already have been discovered in three of these basins.