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LONDON (Alliance News) - MC Mining Ltd on Friday said coal production fell 20% in the second quarter, though the miner expects a pick-up in the coming months.
In Johannesburg, the stock was down 6.1% at ZAR11.55 early Friday, while in London it was untraded.
Uitkomst Colliery run-of-mine coal production fell to 112,562 tonnes in the second quarter, which ended December 31, compared to 140,501 tonnes a year ago. The decrease was due to continued equipment availability issues, incorporating ex-mining contractor staff into new systems, and process challenges following transition to owner mining in August 2018, the company said.
A number of shifts were lost due to these issues, MC Mining said, though corrective action has been implemented and improved production is expected in the third quarter.
"The mining operations at Uitkomst were insourced during August 2018 and the integration of the approximately 340 staff as well as equipment and systems continued during the quarter. The integration as well as the commissioning of additional equipment affected run-of-mine production and this will improve during the March 2019 period," said Chief Executive David Brown
The reduction in production resulted in sales of metallurgical, high quality and blended thermal coal decreasing 28% to 67,606 tonnes from the comparative period's 94,271 tonnes.
On a more positive note, "favourable" coal prices saw the average revenue per saleable tonne rise to USD91.25 from USD61.09 a year ago.
