Overseas & General?s coal sales below expectation due to wet weather
Wednesday, January 26 2011 - 01:03 AM WIB
?Limited coal tonnages were mined and stockpiled. 7,000 tonnes was sold during the quarter ended 31 December 2010. Abundant rain caused mining and transport difficulties,? the company said in a statement.
The main pit was severely flooded from an inflow of surface water and rising groundwater. Pumps have been installed and the water has been removed as of last week, it said.
Pits have been redesigned to cater for such events, should they occur in the future. An additional pit has been opened up, which has commenced coal production. It is expected that coal sales will improve during the current quarter.
The company is evaluating the operation and administration systems with a view to strengthening the overall business. The board is awaiting the report of the review and will take appropriate actions to improve operations at its joint-venture company.
The company also said that it has incorporated a wholly-owned coal trading company in Singapore known as OGL Coal Trading Pte. Ltd. to undertake coal trading for its joint-venture company in Indonesia and to source thermal and coking coal from Australia to export to Chinese steel and power companies.
OGL is a joint venture with Malaysian owned group, Golden Focus Group Limited (Hong Kong) and their Indonesian entity, PT Indotrade Resources. The JV company, PT OGL Indotrade Resources has rights to mine and sell coal from the Rahmat, Jongkang, Pagar and Jambi coal tenements.
OGL currently produces coal from the Jongkang mine near Tenggarong, East Kalimantan. (denny)