JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Coal miner TerraCom expects to commission its dedicated train loading facility at the Blair Athol coal mine, in the Bowen basin of Queensland, later this month.
The mine, which TerraCom bought last year for $1 from Rio Tinto, will benefit substantially from the load-out facility, with the company saying on Thursday that it would deliver an additional $20/t improvement in margin. Currently, coal is trucked by road to a third-party rail load-out facility.
TerraCom expects the dedicated facility to provide additional operating cash flow and net profit before tax of A$34-million a year.
The train load-out facility uses the exiting unused rail line, which runs across the Blair Athol site and connects the main Goonyella rail line and then runs to Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal.
TerraCom has successfully restarted the formerly mothballed mine, with first coal mined in August last year and two-million-tonne-a-year nameplate capacity achieved in December. The mine will be able to operate at that level for nine years.
The miner has reached a significant milestone this week by selling 500 000 t of coal from the Blair Athol mine into the export market, through the temporary alternate path to market.
“Also following a recent round of discussions in Japan with Japanese buyers, there is strong interest in Japan in the Blair Athol brand where it has a long history and tradition with most securing cargoes for the second quarter and third quarter of 2018,” the company reported.
Terracom registered its maiden operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the half-year ended December of A$5.53-million and gross profit from operation of A$10.13-million.