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This was 25th July RNS: In order to minimise any future adverse impact on the selling prices achieved by the Company for eight of its ten shipments (domestic sales), it has agreed with Integrity a fixed sales price per ton for these consignments. The agreed price per ton of clean coal is higher than the current market price of our coal products, thereby insulating the Company's earnings on these consignments from any future falls in the price of met coal.

25th July RNS: <>
We will have shipped 5 trains this month so my interpretation of this RNS is that the next 3 shipments will be above $250pT but the trains after that will resume to 20 day average of market price. With the steady rise coal could be $350pT by end of September.

Hi Sienna, wasn't ignoring you, was watching Lion King on Disney. Don't ya just love school holidays, lol. I haven't a clue about taking a company private. I am just a layman/novice investor, not an accountant or seasoned investor. I chat with a lot of brokers and investors and contractors of other mines and the consensus is that Adam is building up the Company to reach his billion target and word is that with all capital assets owned by BEN it makes the Company a viable TO target. Now take that as a positive or just what it is, a rumour. I'd personally like to see BEN continue to grow and pay dividends as I'd like to keep all my shares as a pension plan and live off those dividends (and my rents as I didn't sell my flats back in May, thank goodness, lol).
I do know that we have just purchased a load of Cat equipment that is in great condition as well as arranging a deal to buy a load of new Komatsu 'yellow iron'. The savings vs contracting are likely that the fleet will have paid for itself within 3 years! I'd say that is another shrewd deal by Adam.
I questioned why the heck we bought that non working rig at £2.4m for it to just sit there, but in hindsight that too was a great move by Adam as working ones are £9m! Why didn't we spend £1m straight away to repair it? Well, at the risk of deramping, I think all the revenue from selling ROM by truck was going on paying operational costs including JMAC's contracting fees for the 'yellow iron'. Clearing the site of overburden costs money regardless of whether or not we are selling coal at the time.
Currently Mega have their 71SHM outputting the equivalent of 40KT washed HVB coal each month and Norfolk Southern and sending trains as and when we have enough stockpiled to fill an 11KT train load. 4 trains left this month already with a 5th due before August becomes a the much awaited news rich month of September. That is 55KT in one month!
OK the obvious negatives to balance this post out: output targets got delayed by a few months; metcoal market price dropped; we had 2 £6m loans; we added 20m shares in return for a further £6m funding.
The positives: we bought a HWM that will be repaired for 1/3 the cost of buying an already working one; we have an increased acreage from the original 10K acres; we have an increased resource/reserve amount proven by Marshall Miller surveyors; we have bought all the mining equipment outright to work alongside the HWMs; we have a permit to mine an extra 299 acres landing next month (the very latest 12th October if you want to be pessimistic, but the WV DEP govt official whom I emailed told me it will be sooner); the 77SHM rig will be arriving onsite very soon; the #20HWM will be repaired although I have no info on what repairs are required or at what point it will be done, so have to suffice with Adam saying it will be Q1; metcoal price is on the rise again and is expected to be $350 next month as China opens it's steel mills and Europe look for an alternative 2 R

Hi Sienna39, the 77SHM rig isn't onsite yet but it only takes 2 days to assemble by crane once onsite. Still a couple of weeks left for permit according to Eddie so no rush.

Rak0328, I get your concern. I too thought £1 was on the cards once we get the 2nd HWM mining or at least once it is in double shift (November or maybe December). Ben was at £1 when there was only 1 HWM spitting out ROM to be shipped by truck. We are already double that production and shipping it washed by train, yet only 31.5p
The new CFO, Murat, is noted for seeking out innovation and efficiency with the companies he has been CFO of before. For sure he has been instrumental in advising Adam of the efficiency of purchasing our own machinery that has already been arriving onsite prior to this RNS and of operating it without contractor restraints. If we can shift more dirt and coal each day using our own staff that is a positive. The value in terms of assets has just increased today. If, IF, Big IF, there is to be a TO deal then Ben's Creek Group are now more saleable. As I understand it the SHM71 and SHM77 rigs will still be under a contracted lease deal and once the purchased SHM has been repaired it will use Mega contracted staff to operate it. Iirc a HWM only requires 5 staff and Mega get paid on a per Ton basis. It is in Mega's best interest as it is Ben's to extract as much ROM as possible in those double shifts (18hrs a day?).
I am in this as a pension pot and for future dividends. Am disappointed the latter won't come till maybe Q4 2023 now instead of 2022 but I enjoy watching how the business is growing from being a disused mine with rusty plant to a producing mine with new equipment and about to double up production this year and treble it next, maybe as soon as Q1?
Hey, I'm down on my investment average so when I read the word placing instead of permit I was concerned. However now I have read it through a few times I see it as a very good thing for long term forward investors. Much like when the first CLN was issued to acquire more land and a cheap rig ($2.4m vs $9m new). MBU invested for 30p today and here we are at 1.5p above that baseline. Most have been expecting 30p for a while this month. We might drop another 1.5p aber es macht nichts. Wierd zuruck oben sein mit permit u SHM77. Bis September GL.

It is disconcerting to see the sp so low but if you were invested here, which you have just admitted not being, then you would realise those whom are anticipate important news soon. Financial report (which we know will just show costs were covered up till March shipping 20KTpm by truck rather than the 44KT shipped by rail this month), an increase in metcoal market prices and the SHM77 rig assembled ready to exercise the pending permit next month. Gonna be quiet here till September so it is a good time to chill but if any of the above happen sooner be sure to have an alert on your app whilst sat by the beach.

DropD you have just taken a perfectly honest forward looking post and trashed it so get off my back. As an investor I research and question the stock rather than just looking through rose tinted glasses and scratching my head why the sp went sky high and fell so low. You clearly just want to see positive ramp posts and believe everything has been ontrack all year. The Company have done well as a new start up but timelines mentioned in RNS and those speculative podcasts have not been met. Podcasts giving rampy EBITDA figures and £1:50 valuations should come true next year but investors were led to believe that it would happen this year.

Check the RNS for 25th Feb : "Following the announcement made on 18 January 2022, for a contract to purchase a Superior highwall miner and related highwall mining equipment, the Company is pleased to announce this purchase has now been completed following the final purchase price payment being made and the Board of Bens Creek expect that this machine will be deployed ahead of the initial scheduled timetable of the second quarter of 2022" but it wasn't deployed as it is knackered.

or 14th March: "We are also excited by the addition of a second highwall miner which, along with the anticipated second shift operating the existing highwall miner and the proposed commencement of underground mining, will enhance our output to meet the global demand for high quality metallurgical coal." where second shift didn't start till June and 2nd HWM is still not repaired.

or 27th June: "Whilst the Company's request to MHW has been accepted, it is anticipated the formal agreement with MHW for the supply of a second highwall miner will be completed during July 2022 on similar terms as the initial highwall miner supplied by MHW, including a production target of between 32,000 and 40,000 tons of metallurgical coal per month.
The Company expects to receive, during July 2022, a permit for the area that is to be mined by MHW using the second highwall miner."

Justified whining DropD Fred. Read the RNS reports! It is all there in black and white!
Anyway, as I said in previous post, the future looks good with BEN but is somewhat delayed, so always add a few months to any stated timelines mentioned in interviews and indeed printed RNS as they are optimistic rather than precise. Hopefully double output by end of year and possibly triple output by Q2 2023. Then maybe we will be £1:50. Just a waiting game now. It is indeed boring....being sat in the 30s. Any one of those news items I listed in previous post should get the sp up and start making this an exciting stock to follow again.

Tbf Benji, Adam had said it would be July when we were in June, and that it would be August when we were in July so I get why you asked if the permit can land before September. Adam seems to think it can so maybe it can. At the very latest it will be 12th October. In the meantime one would hope that Mega deliver the new HWM sections and get it assembled onsite so that when the permit lands it can start mining straight away, assuming staff have been contracted in to do so. Adam had also said that the HWM would be here this month so have to wait and see. At this stage of the game if we get permit and HWM this month or next month it is no big deal, already 6 months behind what February PR and RNS said we were due to be in March, hence why we are at 35p. I've ridden the 'roller coaster' since October 2021 and got used to the delays associated with a new mining company.
Ben only recently started producing approx 45KT washed coal each month, enough to fill 4 trains. We were told that we would be doing that back in February and that it would double up when they bought the Superior rig. Here we are 6 months later waiting for a working rig to arrive to get Ben's output to 85KT washed coal per month. That full production amount not due till November/December. So we bob around the 30s until:
metcoal market price goes back up;
we get the Mega77 unit onsite;
the 299 acre permit is approved;
the rig goes to double shift to extract 80KT HVB ROM;
we get financial report clarifying margins;
we get independent valuation of the company in full production;
we get the Superior rig repaired to add a further 80KT ROM on existing permit(s);
we get dividend announcement;
we take in coal from neighbouring mines to wash and ship it by rail on a royalty basis.
It is not going to be an overnight rise but there is plenty to look forward to if you are prepared to wait and expect delays. The permit is in the hands of the govt decision makers, not Adam so it was perhaps bit presumptious for him to tell investors it would be here sooner, but you'll get used to Adam's enthusiasm. It will all come good. GLA

the 2 permits passed last month and the pending permit from DEP are posted on Bens Creek #Ben facebook page fbkdotcom groups/430079908819706
They have until 12th October to make their decision. Office official has said that it will be sooner as only 8/50 milestones to be met. They are more of a formality of rubber stamping from department officials. The permit is pretty much a given.
We still need to get the Mega77 onsite to mine those 299acres though and still no news on that except that Mega have confirmed it has been requested and most probably will be their 77 unit. We already have their Mega71 HWM on double shift.

2 permits awarded last month for Glen Alum & MGC sites. Still waiting for the 8 stratas permit on the 299 acreage that will be mined by Mega77 HWM while Mega71 continues to produce 40KT washed coal each month and the undergound mine a further 5KT washed. Cumulatively enough for 4 trains x 11KT this month. At full production with these assets it will be around 85KT so 7-8 train loads per month. Realistically that will be nearer December time. Financials due end of August. Hope Murat can gives us some insight to the margins we can expect rather than what we had when just selling ROM by the truck (report is just till March 31st)

Geeze beardozer, 25% of your PF in BEN and you think we will be 35p still in 6 months, lol. Wouldn't you be better off taking your own advise and sticking it into something else if you think we won't go over 58p by Christmas let alone in 6 months?
I made an error in believing the PR back in March that we would be selling 80KT washed coal the next month. I must have misunderstood the hype 5 months ago as that level of output isn't likely to happen until November/December. So 6 months delay in my books. We are in no rush. We do £1 this year or next, es macht nichts.
Save your insincere sorrow. You don't know me or my family. We paid our spare cash to join the rollercoaster which climbed quite high in a short space of time. Many experienced passengers got out at the top. But it is fun so we stayed and held on as it dropped just as quick. Some people are joining us at 35p waiting for the permit that will release the brakes to ride back up. If you can't afford to loose then don't gamble with shares. Are you selling your PF because we are in recession for 15months? That is your choice. Coal of all types is going to still be in demand. Check the metcoal price next month. I joke about Christmas dinner but it is just light hearted non offensive banter. Every day is like watching a very long horse race where mum and I shout "Come on Ben! " and "go fk yourself to the derampers". Mum has such a potty mouth, lol

..just brought her average down with a cheeky 34.5p top up this morning. 58p average now which just needs a 2nd permitted HWM to double production before Christmas to put her in decent profit. Her first buy was 99p when I was led to believe we were at the stage we are now. Just sit and wait now. £1.50 by Christmas or Easter, matters not. No rush now, 4th August train on it's way and more to come whenever Adam tells Integrity there is another 11KT to collect (currently that is every week at 40KT HVB + 5-10KT HVA). Tbh I can't recall if we are adding 10KT HVA ROM or washed each month but either way we have >enough for 4 trains each month.
Had mum not topped up on the slide down I'd be more embarrassed than I am already. No longer worried, and I was. Nothing wrong with BEN other than permit delays (not Ben's fault) and a few rampy PR EBITDA predictions that were 6 months premature. Well done to those whom sliced or even chashed out at £1 and came back at this mad March price to do it all over again. Just need DEP to issue the permit now. Rumour is that the 2nd leased HWM is already onsite but I would have thought that would be in an RNS so might be BS. It would make sense to have the rig onsite, assembled & ready to start mining on day of permit approval so hopefully we get that official update.

wolfbag2, you must have said it before the 6th May RNS as Murat Erden is CFO now, not Raju Haldankar and we have a separate independent office to MBU now. I do agree that institutions won't join until the fully operational financial appraisal has been done (maybe November) and soft lock-in releases some of those MBU shares.

Stagnation due to drop in metcoal price while Russia has been selling at discount prices before sanctions came in today. Stagnation also brought on by waiting on news of 2nd leased HWM arriving onsite which apparently has happened already! A photo/video of it chomping a seam of those additional 299 acres should push this back out of the 30s. Just waiting for DEP to pass the permit which is pretty much just an admin job of stamping it 'passed'. That puts it well ahead of the 12th October goal date set by the Wv govt office but admittedly we had hoped it would have been passed in July.

Adam has confirmed that trains will be sent whenever there is a full load ready. 3 trains gone this month. Already extracting equivalent of 40KT washed HVB + 10KT HVA each month. Once the permit lands the second HWM can commence extracting equivalent of a further 20KT washed HVB on single shift ramping up to a further 20KT so a combined total of 90KT mixed HVB+ by year end = 8 train loads per month = 1.08millionT per year. That is not even including the possible further 40KTpm from the repaired Superior rig in Q1 2023.

Yeh my mum ain't talking to me at the moment, with her 76p average, lol.
I ain't really laughing either with a 40p average in my full ISA and 46p in the other account. I am not clever enough to understand why the sp is being held below 40p although I do now realise why it slid all the way down from a £1. I have the virtual cuts on my hands from holding that knife :(
Been too many delays along the way. If they say the HWM arrives next month then it should arrive next month and at least be in a working condition. Here we are 6 months on from when we were told we would be doing 80KT washed coal each month. 6 months on from when we were at this same price. It is hard to stay away from checking the sp each day but if Mega are confident to Lease us a second rig where they only get paid by how much coal is extracted then that is good enough indication that we will do that 80KT a month washed HVB. Forgetting about charts and stuff the company valuation has to increase when we get news of that HWM being onsite, assembled and permitted to start extracting. Still no news of the HWM sections even leaving Kentucky yet. That is enough reason for some to jump ship.
Totally makes sense to re-evaluate the company later, once both rigs are at full capacity along with the HVA underground rig and maybe even have the Superior rig repaired ready to jump on the new permit acreage.
Keep hearing about TO bids, changing to supply higher priced thermal, taking in coal from other mines on royalty basis but it is just jibber jabber. As for dividends, Adam had said in early interviews that he planned to give 10p by Christmas but in recent interviews that has changed to Spring next year.
Let's see if HWM and permit happen next month or very latest 12th October (permit goal date set by DEP), if Australia start selling to China so we can supply Europe, if metcoal price goes back above $300 and if we can at least extract enough to supply 60KT washed each month by end October ramping up to 80KT by eoy.
I might get a seat at the dinner table but it is looking like it will be for passing round Easter eggs instead of Christmas presents. Am a hypocrite saying this, but switch off and pop back in a few weeks. If HWM not here by mid September then more fool me.

from the boss: "NS will be sending trains now as fast as we can load them, so my previous timetable of 2 trains a months will be hugely condensed"
That has to be a game changer! Minimum 3 trains per month with 1 xHWM leading to 7-8 each month by eoy. Well done AW & team BEN!

Currently 1xHWM extracting 80KT ROM on double shift rendering down to 40KT through washplant.
2nd HWM still waiting final repairs but only to be used as a back-up with possibility that it could be commissioned Q1 23.
3rd HWM expected onsite last month but no update to confirm such so assume assume it will arrive in sections this month from neighbouring Kentucky. Will require assembling at one of these sites within the 299 acre permit plot: Upper Cedar Grove (Peerless), Lower Cedar Grove (2 Gas), Alma A (Powellton A), Alma B (Powellton), or Alma C (Powellton Lower). Hopefully the rig will be ready to start mining just as the permit lands in September to do so. That could add 20KT washed coal to the 40KT being produced that month. Then just a case of ramping up from selling 60KT October to 80KT December and adding more trains as and when required to take it. Each train taking approximately 11KT so 7 trains in December will suffice.
Adam has suggested that if the Superior rig starts mining Q1 that would increase output to 120KT within the same permit. Everything looking good long-term for shareholders after such a naff start to summer. The permit is pretty much a given especially as the team have been helping the flooded community whom have a say in the permit approval.

Just need some news that the HWM sections are onsite this month for investors to come back out with the same enthusiasm we had back in March (when were led to believe we where at the stage we are now producing 40KT washed coal per month and getting ready to ramp up to 80)

Awesome news. Not only that all are safe but that we have the trains booked as per RNS and will have additional trains throughout the year as and when the stockpile grows to fill them. Had to play it back a few times but am sure I heard Adam say at 4:48minutes in to that interview that they are getting 3 trains per week! Am guessing he meant 3 trains in this week but even so that is testament to their 4hr fast load-out facility and fast track repairs. A permit and 1 or even 2 more rigs operational and I might get to eat Christmas dinner after all :) Well done Adam and all the team at the Creek!

Pending permit is S500921 as confirmed by DEP official last week. Goal date 12th October. They said permit should come a lot sooner as 42/50 milestones already met.

DropD I agree. Adam has always stated, when asked, that he would only sell thermal if it came out the ground as a bi-product of getting to the metcoal. No intention of specifically going after thermal. And as DropD said, strong ESG credentials are important especially with EDP permit applications and to ensure green investors remain.

ART123 please stick to facts. The DEP govt official only emailed back yesterday with that verbatim quote about October 12th goal date and permit possibly landing sooner as only 8 milestones left to achieve. Namely:
OMR Field Preinspection
OMR O & C Rec. (Region)
OMR OSMRE Recommendation
OMR Signoff, Inspector
OMR Signoff, permit supervisor
OMR Technical Review Complete
OMR Sent to Headquarters
OMR Workers Comp. (Approved).
The permit could arrive anytime between now and 12th October. Can those 8 milestones be done this week? Probably not so there goes your July date. Will permit and HWM arrive in August? Quite possibly and hopefully. Will it be ready to start extracting by end of August? I don't see any reason why not. Been far too many posts this year claiming things are happening only to be delayed. Stick to facts. Even if everything happens October instead of August it shouldn't matter to longterm holders. Just means we reach a £1 sp again two months later than expected and that the pump and dumpers have to see a slow rise rather than a spikey one they want to cash out on like they did in April.
Slow and steady now we are back in the roaring 40s. Happy to see my average met once again, envious of those whom just joined in the 30s. Onwards and steadily upwards on it's own merits now. Most probably 60KT HVB by October and 80KT by end of year plus 10KT HVA. Start 2023 on a 970KT HVB+ annual target amount. Q1 dividends or TO bid. Either way BEN should reward today's investors kindly.