SNR said it had continued the delivery of coal from the mine to the Port of East London in preparation for pick-up from offtake partner Trasteel International South Africa.

The customer’s vessel was due at the port between August 20 and September 3 to commence loading, SNR said.

The company reported in March that key delivery targets at the mine had been missed, which resulted in a failure to meet planned coal shipments to Trasteel for late January and early February.

"The SNR board acknowledges and regrets that key delivery targets have been missed due to various factors, including wash plant engineering and commissioning issues and the ongoing optimization and supply chain challenges associated with establishing a mine in the Eastern Cape for the first time in over 100 years," SNR said in March.

In the company’s May interim results, the board set an end of June/ early July target for the delivery of coal from the mine to the nearby Port of East London for an anticipated initial coal shipment.

In an update in July SNR said it had agreed with Trasteel that the coal would instead be ready at the end of July/beginning of August.

However, SNR said it agreed “the coal will be available for the customer’s collection from the port”, rather than being shipped.

SNR chief executive officer Gabriel Ruhan remained positive in the most recent update despite the extensive delays.

"This is another important milestone in the continuing development of our business,” Ruhan

said.