Straits? Sebuku coal production up 40% in Q2

Australian mining company Straits Resources Limited reported Wednesday its coal production from Sebuku coalmine in South Kalimantan had increased by nearly 40 percent to 803,000 tons in the second quarter of 2004 compared to the previous quarter of 576,000 tons.

Straits said coal sales also improved to 664,000 tons, 16 percent up from the March quarter or 86 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

?The mining contactors have continued to optimise their mining fleet which has resulted in an improvement in efficiencies, the unit cost of production remained low due to the high production and sales achieved in the quarter,? Straits said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.

According to Straits, mining is now concentrating on the northern Tanah Putih Pit as the Kanibungan pit nears the end of its life. Having said this, additional coal estimated at 400,000 tons has recently been located at Kanibungan thus extending the life of that pit.

Straits also said Sebuku was currently forecasting total sales for calendar 2004 of 2.5 million tons with the vast majority of these sales now placed in long term contracts with sonic of the largest power companies in the Asia-Pacific region.

?Coal prices received continue to improve as higher priced contracts kick in. This trend will feature to an even greater extent in the operational performance over the next 18 months and this coupled with the strong forecast production performance, should underpin future results from the mine,? Straits added.

Straits has an 80 percent ownership in PT Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku, which operates the opencut truck and shovel coal mining. The remaining 20 percent stake is held by PT Reyka Wahana Digdjaya. (robert)