Coal International US subsidiary King Coal has spent $US19 million in resuming underground and surface mining and refurbishment of the preparation plant at its Gauley Eagle mine in West Virginia.
The underground mine achieved first production in January 2006 as the company re-established access to the underground workings.
Surface mining at Gauley Eagle commenced in March 2006, in line with the completion of refurbishments to the preparation plant, and the property produced and sold its first clean coal in late March 2006.
Initial thermal coal sales of 30,000 tonnes per month increasing to 50,000 tonnes per month were made at $US55/t and $US58/t. The company is now looking to secure longer, five-year contracts under similar terms.
Coal International said the ongoing development of the underground Silo Mains mine in West Virginia was progressing well with a new continuous miner scheduled for delivery in June 2006, with a second unit to be delivered in the fourth quarter.
King Coal is in the final stages of obtaining permits to start surface mining operations at its Maple Coal property in the third quarter, and is actively pursuing plans to design and permit underground mining operations and finalise plans to rehabilitate the preparation plant.
The company said Maple Coal would produce 1Mt of surface coal and 1.5Mt from underground operations by fiscal 2009.
The company has executed a memorandum of understanding with one prospective purchaser covering 800,000 tonnes per annum of Maple coal for $90/t over 10 years.
