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Caledon, which is dual-listed in Australia and London, also increased its total coal resource estimate by 13% to 460Mt.
Run-of-mine production at the Cook underground mine reached 169,800 tonnes in the weather-affected December quarter, down 8.7% from the previous quarter.
Caledon made a net loss of $11.8 million for the second half of 2010, which included the impact of a $3.5 million accounting charge relating to convertible notes.
But the Bowen Basin coal producer also made a return to gross profit in the half, notching up $2.1 million compared to a $4 million gross loss in the second half of 2009.
Meanwhile Bidco, the wholly owned Australian subsidiary of Guangdong Rising Asset Management, is moving closer to Chinese regulatory approval after it struck a preliminary in-principle agreement back in November to acquire Caledon at @£12 ($A18.74) a share for a total value of @£251.6 million.
The Chinese approvals were expected by the end of February, but have not yet been received.
“GRAM has been working very hard with the Chinese regulatory authorities during February and is confident the approval process is in its final stages,” GRAM chairman Li Jinming said.
Earlier this year Caledon announced that its Minyango underground project near Blackwater could produce up to 9Mt per annum ROM. Targeting first coal in 2014, initial mining will need 310 operational workers to produce 3Mtpa of saleable coal.
Located 10 kilometres south of the town of Blackwater in central Queensland, the Minyango project covers 3325 hectares near the Cook colliery and BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance’s Blackwater open cut mine.
Caledon detailed the project’s parameters in a recent federal environmental application.
Mining of the 2.5-3 metre-thick Aries and Pollux seams in the Rangal coal measures is slated to produce metallurgical and thermal coal at a ratio of around 62:38 for a 25-year mine life, including rehabilitation.
While other seams are not deemed suitable for economic extraction, the two target seams collectively hold 192.9Mt of resources, including 43.5Mt in the measured category.
