JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Vertical construction of a preparation plant at ASX-listed Paringa Resources’ Poplar Grove coal mine, in the Illinois basin, in Kentucky, has started with completion on track for the third quarter of 2018, the company reported on Wednesday.
Initial internal equipment has been delivered, while crews have started driving sheet piling and delineating the keyhole access to support the underground excavation of the slope decline to access the underground coal.
“Good weather has allowed accelerated completion of the raw coal reclaim tunnel along with excavation and site development works at the Paringa barge load-out facility on the Green river,” the company said in a statement.
In addition to construction advancements, the company continued to make progress in building relationships with the Ohio river and south-east markets, and is looking forward in executing Paringa’s coal sales and marketing strategy.
“It is very exciting to see our team erecting structural steel at Poplar Grove’s preparation plant and beginning the steel sheet piling to support the slope decline to access the underground coal. In addition, I am also pleased to report we have made considerable progress in building long-term relationships with our tier-1 customer base and very encouraged with some of the improving market fundamentals for US domestic and export coal markets,” Paringa MD and CEO Grant Quasha said.
The 2.8-million-tonnes-a-year Poplar Grove thermal coal mine forms part of Paringa’s 40 000-acre Buck Creek complex, which also contains the 3.8-million-tonnes-a-year Cypress mine, where construction is set to begin in 2019.