Atlantic Coal PLC Trading update & Q3 2015 production & sales update (8218A)
October 01 2015 - 1:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMATC
RNS Number : 8218A
Atlantic Coal PLC
01 October 2015
Atlantic Coal plc ("Atlantic Coal" or the "Company")
Positive trading update and Q3 2015 production and sales
update
Atlantic Coal, the AIM listed anthracite coal mining company
operating in Pennsylvania, USA announces a trading update and a
positive production and sales update for the nine months ended 30
September 2015. Atlantic Coal owns and operates the Stockton
anthracite mine ("Stockton"), located near Hazleton,
Pennsylvania.
Key production/sales summary - nine months ended 30 September
2015
9 months ended 9 months ended Change
30 September 30 September
2015 2014
------------------------------- --------------- --------------- --------
Clean Coal Production (tons) 151,523 118,279 +28.1%
------------------------------- --------------- --------------- --------
Run of Mine Production (tons) 365,985 243,527 +50.3%
------------------------------- --------------- --------------- --------
Overburden Removed (BCY) 3,284,564 2,192,620 +49.8%
------------------------------- --------------- --------------- --------
Total Coal Sales (tons) 186,186 112,831 +65.0%
------------------------------- --------------- --------------- --------
Clean Coal Inventory (tons) 26,149 8,839 +182.7%
------------------------------- --------------- --------------- --------
Wash Recovery Rate (%) 55.0 40.1 +37.2%
------------------------------- --------------- --------------- --------
Commenting on the Q3 performance, Atlantic Coal's Managing
Director Steve Best said:
"I am pleased to report an excellent production and sales
performance during Q3. This is particularly pleasing when viewed
against the very challenging market conditions for commodities, in
particular for thermal and metallurgical coals, the prices of which
have plunged dramatically. In contrast anthracite prices have held
up well and we will be raising the prices of all of our anthracite
grades by $10 a ton from the 12(th) of October 2015, to take
advantage of the healthy market for anthracite as we move into what
is traditionally our best period of the year for both sales volumes
and prices.
Our impressive year-on-year increases in production reflect our
investment in new plant and equipment and its increased capacity
and reliability. Our Komatsu PC3000 hydraulic excavator gives us
98% availability and the combination of mining the almost solid
Mammoth seam and improvements to the washing plant have resulted in
an almost 37% increase in our wash recovery rate i.e. the % of
clean coal which we recover from run of mine coal. In August 2015
we also introduced a new blasting pattern, which is providing a
much more effective fracturing of the overburden rock which, in
turn, enables higher production rates from our excavators.
We are also very near to reaching the bottom of the coal basin
in the current cut and, according to indications from old
underground mine maps, we are due to enter the almost solid 30 feet
thick Mammoth seam, which will further assist in maintaining our
high production levels.
On the sales front we are entering the traditional home and
industrial heating market season and, for the first time going into
the winter, we have a very healthy inventory of clean coal which
means that we have the confidence to supply our traditional
customer base and also to go out and seek new customers. While the
steel industry is experiencing global reductions in production
insofar as anthracite is concerned, this is being counterbalanced
by an increase in demand for anthracite to replace high sulphur
petroleum coke with a consequent increase in demand from that
sector which also bodes well for the future as the steel industry
recovers.
We continue to make good use of our new rail loading terminal to
supply both existing and new customers, giving us both extended
market reach and improved competitiveness by avoiding haulage to,
and loading costs at, third party rail loading terminals.
All of this has contributed to both sustaining our very healthy
2015 H1 financial performance (as reported on 27(th) August 2015)
and improving upon the first two months of H2 which showed an
increasing rate of turnover.
We therefore look forward with confidence to the final quarter
of 2015 and the Directors are confident that the financial
performance of the Company for the remainder of H2 will match the
results reported in H1."
**ENDS**
For further information on the Company, visit:
www.atlanticcoal.com or contact:
Steve Best Atlantic Coal plc Tel: 0191 386 6392
Nick Naylor Allenby Capital Limited Tel: 020 3328 5656
John Depasquale Allenby Capital Limited Tel: 020 3328 5656
Alex Brearley Allenby Capital Limited Tel: 020 3328 5656
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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