Queensland authorities are confirming an eleventh case of Black Lung Disease in the past year.  It's the fourth case diagnosed in just the past few days, and one of the patients is the youngest person ever to be afflicted in Australian history.

"It is expected, as stated earlier this year, that further cases will be identified from this extra activity and as miners respond to the focus on coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP)," read a statement from the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines.

Mining companies were offering for workers to have new x-rays taken and to have existing x-rays re-read.  The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) says the authorities have yet to recognize dozens more cases of which union officials are familiar.

Black lung is caused by long-term exposure to fine airborne coal dust in areas with poor ventilation.  But one of the new patients had worked as a coal miner in the Bowen Basin for only eleven years.  At 39 years of age, he's the youngest person in Australia to be diagnosed with Black Lung. 

The most recent patient is a 56-year-old who has worked at an underground coal mine in the Bowen Basin.  And last week, health workers diagnosed a 62-year old underground coal miner who had worked in Bowen Basin mines for 20 years.

National Resources and Mines Minister Dr. Anthony Lynham told parliament earlier this year that the Coal Mining Safety and Health Advisory Committee - which is made up of union, employer, and departmental representatives - is working to combat the reemergence of CWP.  

"The advisory committee is already working on a number of important actions, including regulatory changes to the dust monitoring system," he said, "It will develop minimum training and experience standards for nominated medical advisers."