JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South Africa-focused Continental Coal has lifted the average monthly run-of-mine (RoM) production at its recently commissioned Penumbra coal mine by 35%, achieving an average of 26 787 t a month in July and August.

The ASX-listed coal miner reported that this improvement over the average monthly production of 19 895 t in the three months ended June, came largely on the back of various operational improvements at the operation, which remained on target to achieve its design capacity of 63 000 t of RoM coal a month by November.

“RoM production for September already exceeds 20 000 t and is trending towards the 40 000 t target for the month.

“Achieving the planned production for September will also alleviate logistical congestion around the main conveyor and lay a sound foundation for the planned 50 000 t RoM planned for October,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The commissioning of the permanent ventilation shaft in August was the last remaining infrastructure required to reach the design capacity of 63 000 t a month.

“We had to hold back on production owing to ventilation constraints up to the end of August, but the successful commissioning of the ventilation shaft will now allow us to move towards full design capacity,” CEO Don Turvey commented.

With the adequate ventilation in place since early September, both continuous miner sections were fully operational and able to establish the planned mining outlay of nine road production sections.

Continental also reported an improvement in the yield as the mining sections were being established.

“The average yield for the month-to-date is about 59% – a marked improvement on the average yield of 44% achieved in July and August and the average yield of 37% achieved in the second quarter,” the company said.

A drill-and-blast section would be added to the two continuous miner sections in November, which would add additional flexibility to maintain the planned production rate.

Each continuous miner section currently had two shuttle cars, with a third car to be added to each section in December, creating further flexibility for steady-state production.

All required surface infrastructure had been completed and the installation of the underground substations was now in progress, which would have no impact on the planned production rate.

“The Penumbra project is establishing itself as a model project from design, through development and now aiming for steady-state production. Experience gained during the Penumbra project execution will stand us to good use when we begin development of De Wittekrans in the near future,” Turvey concluded.

South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources granted Continental a mining right over its De Wittekrans project earlier this month.

The project would deliver about 3.6-million tonnes a year of thermal coal from an openpit and underground mine and had an estimated mine life of 30 years.