Altura: Delta coal Q1 output drops more than 50%

By Ruli Setiawan

ASX-listed Altura Mining Ltd said that production at its Delta coal mine in East Kalimantan dropped by more than half to 112,438 tons in the first quarter (Q1) of this year from 228,624 tons in the corresponding period of last year.

?Production at Delta Coal during the three months to March 2016 remained below the annual target of 1.5 million tons with contracting capacity well below plan. The company has continued negotiations with various contractors in an effort to increase tonnage and reduce mining costs,? Altura said in a statement Thursday.

The company, which holds more than 33 percent stake in Delta mine, further said that the mine continues to focus on cost reductions and efficiency gains in order to offset historically low coal prices and provide a positive platform to maximise the extraction of the mine?s considerable coal resources.

Production and sales for the first quarter were as follows:

	Mar 2016 Quarter Tons	Mar 2015 Quarter Tons	9 months to Mar 2016 Tons	9 months to Mar 2015 Tons
Saleable coal production (100% terms)	112,438	228,624	292,652	869,133
Coal sold (100% terms)	114,342	254,903	356,239	958,626
Saleable coal production (Altura 33⅓% share)	37,479	76,208	97,551	289,711
Coal sold (Altura 33⅓% share)	38,114	84,968	118,746	319,542

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak