PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Coal miner Stanmore Coal has flagged a targeted 50% increase in production for the 2019 financial year, compared with 2018, following the start of the Isaac Plains East operation.
The project, which started operations in June, is expected to deliver its first coal in August.
Stanmore on Wednesday told shareholders that the company was expecting to boost run-of-mine (RoM) production to about 2.3-million tonnes for 2019, representing a 40% increase on the 2018 RoM production, and to produce 1.8-million tonnes of product, which is a 50% increase over 2018.
During the June quarter, Stanmore produced 547 000 t of RoM coal, and 314 000 t of saleable coal, up by 43% and 4% respectively from the March quarter production.
In the year-to-date, Stanmore produced 1.6-million tonnes RoM coal and 1.1-million tonnes of saleable coal.
Coal sales for the June quarter was down from the 404 000 t reported in the March quarter, to 320 000 t, as coal sales in the previous quarter were inflated by closing product stocks from the December quarter.
Some 1.3-million tonnes of coal were sold during the full year.
Stanmore told shareholders that the financial year ending June is expected to produce an underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of between A$43.5-million and A$45.5-million.