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my mum will be just fine pal.
I work plenty hard but pointless sharing research here or on ADVFN anymore as people like you and PATT (or are you PATT?) have your own agendas to rubbish the stock. Will pop back 5th April before Easter weekend.

Timestamp this post where we are currently 35p, 1xHWM, 1 underground rig, 40KT combined washed HVB+, market price $282.50pT, 2-4 trains each month, using JMAC to contract plant.

Come back 5th April 2023 and see: what is sp? how many HWM operational? How much washed coal is output each month? what is market price? how many trains leave the fast flood loadout each month? Are we contracting or are we independent owning our own yellow iron (but still leasing HWM from Mega)? Have dividends been announced? Should we bed&ISA? Adios and Merry Christmas ;)

Adam has said in interviews that if thermal comes out with the metcoal then they will sell it. Murdat (CFO) is known for efficiency and diversity. The washplant is now more efficient (near 70% cf earlier 50%), so will he suggest we diversify into the thermal market? While demand is there for steel and we are mining metcoal seams I don't think we will. Thermal may even loose a few green moral investors. However, it has worked for ASX:CRN as thermal prices have gone up due to Russian sanctions and they realised that with a higher ash content 8t of met coal converts to 10t of thermal coal. This morning's tweet by CGO implies they too have an offtake deal for thermal. However, CGO have to mine down through thermal seams to get to the metcoal seams so they would be dumb to not sell that thermal by-product. BEN on the other hand are surface mining horizontally and longwall or pillar mining specific metcoal seams.

This 'ailing share price' will pick up when we get permit, 2nd HWM, double production, independently operated plant, more trains and higher market prices. Stay Tuned!!

The permit goal date in the the reply from DEP West Virginia was in American format. So 12th October not 10th December. Thought I better clarify that before anyone questions it.

I was merely adding a couple of months to each timeframe to give a more realistic target date due to it being a new mining business that had already endured delays at the start of the year. I used end of September/early October as target dates for what was hoped would happen in July (increased output).
Even the official at DEP told me on 27th July verbatim "So I looked at the application and the Complete Goal date is 10/12/2022. That being said, I noticed that 42 out of the 50 application milestones had been met so it may be sooner than that date. As for the Highwall Miner question I don't know exactly if there is only one allowed or not. I have attached ESS applications and submissions search instructions where you can pull the application itself and see what the company has to say about the highwall miner. When you search you can search it by the permit number S500921."
There are only 5 milestones now.
The last update made 12th September on the DEP website was that they had accepted the bond and insurance. From watching a few youtube videos on mine reclamation, the bond/insurance is held in case a mining company don't reclaim the mine at end of life back into a green, tree planted environmentally aesthetic space. From all the latest interviews and onsite videos it would appear that BC are going all out to be as environmentally ESG friendly as possible within the frame of their business, planting up disused mine sites at the Creek already.
The market is unforgiving for delays, on that you are right. I do however expect the permit before this month's AGM.

Mega will send the other rig once permits are obtained and Ben's gets some wall exposed. If Mega sends one before then it's dead expense for them to have a 2nd crew with nothing to do. It's very rare that an operation in the mining industry has its own railway and things to transport product. Actually maybe 1 in 10 mines. So those mines are out a lot on just transporting coal. A highwall miner especially 2 is definitely the most cost effective way of mining coal these days. Very little environmental disturbance with maximum production.

Should clarify to any new people here that the strike Diggers2 is referring to is not staff at the Creek. The Rail Unions were talking of a freight rail strike but it seems that Biden Admin have stepped in to broker a deal to avert it. At the moment we ship up to 4 trains each month so even if there was a strike we would be able to work around those strike dates and if it came to it we could ship out coal by truck like we did at the start of the year.
A recruitment advert is circulating the facebook mining community at the moment advertising for staff to operate the yellow iron that has been purchased at BC. We are under contract with JMAC until November apparently so we should become independent thereafter with the CAT and new Komatsu equipment. That advert has been snapshot and posted on the BEN facebook page for PATT to check out.

From a yellow hat on a neighbouring minesite familiar with BC fellow site workers "I think JMAC is under contract until November 1st, but don't hold me to that. Bens Creek is currently hiring for operators and mechanics. I don't think the Komatsu equipment is there yet. Everything right now is hard to obtain as far as equipment and certain parts and things. So delays and things of that nature are fairly common.

Same way with permits. The federal government and environmentalists have tried their best to make it as hard as possible to obtain permits with the way they hold things up and make you jump through what seems to be 1000 hoops to get permits anymore. Once Ben's Creek gets those permits, especially with you all purchasing your own equipment, you'll thrive. Mining takes a lot of money and time to get your feet on the ground and be successful but you all are well on your way.
[You sent
thanks *****. I put Bens Creek in touch with Gainwell Engineering as they seem to have taken over the CAT parts list and liquidiation assets of Boyd Machinery]

Yes sir. I know you all have put a lot of money into the operation. Definitely makes you nervous but honestly to be a leader in the mining industry you have to be independent on your mining operations. That will turn a heck of a lot more profit for you guys and not take nearly as much money on the ton to hit a breakeven and profit point."

So Adam has done really well grabbing the HWM at start of the year for $2,4m requiring $1m repairs as they cost $9m in full working order. Just unfortunate that parts are hard to come by. Hopefully Gainwell whom have taken over the CAT HWM parts list in WV will be able to source and supply what is required to get it up and running so we can have 3xHWM rigs operating Q1 2023. Adam bought a load of CAT yellow iron (dozers/dowsers/diggers) from an energy company that had just finished a pipe laying program, no doubt at a good price. Contracting equipment eats into profits. Adam has paid deposit on new Komatsu yellow iron and is recruiting for operators to start once the current JMAC contract expires. As mentioned above the independence will increase profits just as we expect to be producing 80KT washed coal to go out on 7-8 trains each month at possibly $350pT. It all looks great.

Adam was correct in saying we would have permits in July:
12th July we got the P500422 prospect permit passed for the 8.7 acre Glen Alum site.
14th July we got the P500522 prospect permit for 7acres of the 1200 acre leased MGC site.
The U504892 permit for Tunnel number 2 was issued 1993 with 10 year lifetime for reclamation. We are currently operating 71SHM on S400301A at Upper Cedar Grove.
Best check how permit S500921 is doing for the 299acre site. Should be imminent so Mega can ship it across the border from Ashland, Ky to get it assembled and extracting metcoal this month so the BoDs can tell us all about it at the AGM on the 27th.

yeh sorry, just had to take a look at the advfn board as apparently the usual bickering going on there. And tbf some of what PAAT says is fair comment (mostly about delays) but it does seem like he is trying to short again. Fair enough, if people make investment decisions on his comments and it brings the price down so he can sell then he has achieved his goal. And actually same can be said for anyone basing decisions on what I post, they do so at their own risk. I like to think that I question everything about the company and research through suppliers/contractors/govt to see where we are at. PAAT has his agenda, I just want to see BEN grow as I have got quite sentimental about it and baby BEN isn't even a year old yet!
The latest fearmongering is about a potential US rail strike where all US mines could be forced to truck their coal. But we only have 2 trains booked each month so we just pick a day they aren't on strike as it only takes 4 hours iirc to load and dispatch each train so could get both in one day.
There was a 30KT stockpile after the 5th train left last month. 2 trains booked each month so they could both potentially leave this week. Should the strike take place it may well be over before October when BEN will have 48KT stockpiled after those 2 September trains have left. That can fill 4 trains. Then the 77SHM will be onsite to double output with target of 7-8 trains per month by December (30KT from each HWM plus 20KT from the longwall underground rig totaling 80KT washed each month). Permit has just 5/50 milestones to go, but permit fee has been paid so both permit and the 77SHM should arrive in next 2 weeks although deadline of 12th October was set by DEP. If a day of train strikes affects BEN, then it affects shipments by all mines in USA. Demand will still prevail. Miss a train one day get a train the next. No problem. Not like Ben is relying on a train to arrive every single day. BEN had 5 trains out of 31 days last month. Today, tomorrow, macht nichts!

In 17 days we could get an RNS after the 27th September AGM confirming that the 299acre permit has been awarded, that the 77SHM rig has been delivered/assembled/commenced mining, that we have near 50KT coal stockpiled, that we have new Komatsu equipment onsite and own all the yellow iron plant including the big Cat dozers rather than contracting it (exception being the 2 Mega HWM which may well be purchased from Mega at a later date rather than leased), market metcoal prices are >$350pT, that more trains have been booked at 20 day average of that in addition to the 2 per month that were hedged at around $275pT, that the #20HWM remediation works have been contracted, that washplant is being maintained near 70% efficiency, that the longwall rig is increasing output from current 10KT HiVolA and something about the resource drilling. Only speculation, but any one of those will be another achievement/progress point.
The current sp does not reflect that BEN is outputting 40KT combined HVB+ from both rigs (surface & underground) and all mining plant equipment (excluding 2xHWM) is owned by BEN rather than contracted and that metcoal market price has started rising again. Not even quite 11 months old yet so delays in the first 6 months were inevitable for a new mining company. I realise that now in hindsight and understand why £1 in April was 'a bit toppy'. In another 6 months I probably still won't understand why we were stuck in the 30s for so long. JS? Ukraine? Market price drop? Initial trading losses? Less trains than expected and so less revenue? Stockpiling till the price goes up? Short term traders not looking at the bigger picture (ie how well Ben will be doing in 6 months from now).
We are set to double output with added value of capital assets. The basic logic of math should be that the sp doubles but really it should do what it did in March when we only had 1 rig and trucking smaller quantities out with a sp of £1.04!!
Am not even going to speculate on what the sp could be if the #20HWM rig gets remediation repairs and jumps onto the Glen Alum site to treble current output levels in Q1 2023 but suffice to say it will expedite the award of 10p dividends (28% of current sp). Happy Easter!

down to the last 5 milestones as of this morning (see snapshot posted on Bens Creek facebook)

type in 7xNXWkmzY6w on youtube to see the same washplant model installed by Onevision at Coalzim in 2014. Judging by the size of it one would assume it shouldn't take much time to assemble onsite and has probably already been assembled since release of the last RNS.
The plant consists of a feed arrangement (hopper, plate feeder and belt), a 100tph mechanical jig with product and tails dewatering, and stacking conveyors. Throughputs of 110 and 130tph were reached on nuts and peas respectively. Ash was successfully reduced from 16% to 9%, with a good CV upgrade achieved.
For production assumptions on a new plant (first 6 months) work on plant availability of 90%, utilisation at 80% and a 26 day month. Therefore, running at full throttle for max hours you should get to 450 hrs. Plant availability drops off with age, but these plants are easier to maintain than most, so remains pretty high.
That is where I base my 450hrs x 100T at 50% efficiency calculation to get 22.5KT washed coal each month.

With this onsite and offtake deals signed it is hard to comprehend the low sp.

https://youtu.be/7xNXWkmzY6w

I checked the permit yesterday and still 7 milestones left. Posted a snapshot on the Bens Creek #BEN facebook page. The DEP have cashed a $0.515m cheque but 'technical corrections' keep getting requested and sent. Got til 12th October for them to make their decision but as that chunky cheque was processed on 30th August we can't be far off permit now.

The 100T washplant being installed (similar to the one installed at Zimcoal in 2014) operating 450hrs a month taking in 100T feed with 50% efficiency will spit out 22.5KT washed coal each month. Power can be supplied from a generator to avoid any downtime during Zim power outages. Water recycles in the washplant but needs regretting in a cyclone barrel and needs topping up with roughly 3-5m3 per hour fresh water. Assume we have a bore hole onsite or just fetch in a dowser.

ART123, a snapshot of the pending Permit application from the DEP website this morning is on the 'Bens Creek #BEN' facebook group.

Will need to buy some more ink, print out the financial report and work that out. Have been assuming $120pT costs but am sure there are some whom have read the report already (I only got back off vacation yesterday) and they can chime in with actual figures based on that report rather than my wet finger in the air. Obviously with OPEX fixed any increase in market coal price is pure profit x how ever many tons are sold above the hedged deal on those 8 trains.

yeh I guess so. Was disappointing to hear that the 71SHM is only producing 30KT washed HVB coal rather than 40KT each month but was happy to hear that the 10KT HVA from the longwall rig is actually the washed amount. I had been assuming it was 10KT ROM. Anyways, for now BEN is stockpiling a combined 40KT HiVol B+ each month or enough for nearly 4 trains, but currently only 2 booked each month. The 77SHM is still in Kentucky and probably wom't start being transported in sections until the permit has landed as Mega won't want their contractor staff sat round twiddling their thumbs. Once permit lands and those sections arrive it will take just 2 days to crane it up onto the tracks like a big mechano set. I expect all this to happen in next 2 weeks but just depends on the DEP staff stamping the permit. We won't double up production immediately. The overburden will need clearing away from the seam face and the rig will likely start like the 71SHM did, 20-40KT ROM pm. By end October BEN should be doing combined 60KT washed and by end December 80KT washed, especially if washplant efficiency can be held at near 70%! And all in time for increase in metcoal market prices at which time the growing stockpiles can be sold at premium price, although we can only stock up to 50KT so extra trains will need to start getting booked as soon as the 77SHM rig starts work.

DEP WV govt set 12th October as goal date but as there were only 8/50 milestones 3 weeks ago they said it should be done sooner. Last week there were just 7 milestones left.

With respect beardozer, how is an iron ore company in the Republic of Congo an arch rival of Bens Creek metcoal mine? I have other investments including one in Zimbabwe that doesn't even have a washplant yet. I've followed BEN from the start and learnt a lot about the mining business through research and talking to contractors. My biggest chunk is in BEN and I do see it going over a £1 again within 6 months. I continue to research and ask questions about Ben's Creek as I enjoy learning about what I am invested in. Not in it to flip like most people. I was naive a few months ago expecting a new company to deliver such mammoth tasks or repairs and production within the short time frames they maybe should not have set themselves. In the longterm 6 months on we have 40KT washed metcoal being produced which is due to double in the next month or two. GL with your cross ramp stock but please pop back in January and cf the % both stocks have risen over these next 4 months. Research is never foolish!

Once BEN do £37.4m profit they will issue 10p dividends. So if you buy on Monday at 33.5p you will get 33% dividends not 10% plus you can expect a healthy rise in sp value over the next few months. Was hoped to happen by Christmas but due to earlier delays it looks more likely to come around Easter 2023. If you only expect 10% dividends then pop back in January to buy some BEN when we are back over £1. Happy to hold and watch news of permit, 77SHM arrival, #20HWM repairs, washplant efficiency improvements, extra train shipment/sales, market price rises, GDP budgets increasing spend on military steel, new 'yellow iron' arriving onsite (bought not contracted)and a great deal on some overburden equipment from Harman Energy pipe laying Company for barely used 6yr old plant. No doubt be able hear it all for yourself in tomorrow's roast podcast if Phil & Kev asked about it. Or pop to the AGM later this month if you can get an invite.
Everything is coming together now. "Keep the faith, all will come good!"

Going by the price I am assuming that some little devil bought 666,666 shares for £218K and a further 100K to make it a cool £0.25m after hours. Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of this beast, for it sure as heck won't be stuck down here in the 30s for long.

Iodan1: according to 25th July the financial report up to 31st March is expected at end of this month. We were shipping ROM coal by truck so whilst it won't show us in profit at that time it might give us a better idea of costs at that time period. Diesel prices have increased but we are extracting equivalent of 45KT a month washed coal now from both rigs (HWM & underground rig) and shipping by train which is obviously cheaper than several trucks although fuel costs have increased.