Despite heavy rainfall, Delta Coal confident of meeting production target

By Nellawati

ASX-listed Altura Mining Ltd said on Monday that despite heavy rainfall during the quarter ending June, its Delta Coal mine in East Kalimantan is confident of meeting full-year production target of 1.5 million tons.

In fact, mining contractors have deployed additional fleets in a bid to ramp up production to 1.75 million tons by end of this year. The company has earlier said annual output will be increased to 2 million tons in 2014.

The company said in a statement obtained Monday that heavy rainfall during the June quarter affected the Delta coal mine operations.

?Production during the 3 months to 30 June 2013 continues to be impacted by rain with the mine experiencing 50 rainfall affected days for a total of 666 millimetres of rain. These unseasonable levels of rainfall and particularly the frequency of rain reduced coal recovery from the pits,? the statement said, adding that output during the quarter was only 257,968 tons. Total output so far including of the first quarter is 519,255 tons.

?Delta Coal mine management remains confident that the target of 1.5 million tonnes during the 2013 calendar year is achievable,? it added.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak