MC Mining, which is headed by industry veteran David Brown, says coal sales in its quarter to end December jumped by almost a quarter, boosted by management improvements at its Uitkomst mine.
MC Mining relies on Uitkomst for cash generation, but its priority is its flagship Makhado project, which will produce coking coal and thermal coal once production begins.
The group said on Tuesday coal production at Uitkomst rose 13% in the three months to end December, its second quarter, compared to the previous financial year. Sales of high-grade metallurgical, thermal and high-ash middlings coal rose 24% to 84,578 tons.
The change in mine management and optimisation initiatives continued to yield positive results, said Brown, and follows an 8% rise in coal production in the September quarter.In the company’s year to end-June, Uitkomst had transitioned to an owner-operated colliery, following the transfer of the underground mining contractor Khethekile Mining’s 340 staff and equipment to MC Mining.
The company said in 2018 that it spent R65m on acquiring the equipment to solve issues regarding the availability of the contractor’s equipment.
