Whitehaven Coal benefitted from a strong rebounding in coal prices in the latter part of the December quarter.
The company had good news to share for its December 2020 quarter production report with production among its highlights.
December quarter managed run-of-mine production of 5.1 mega-tonnes which was up 64 per cent on the previous corresponding period while December quarter managed saleable coal production of 3.9Mt was up 15 per cent on the same period.
Total managed coal sales for the quarter was 4.5Mt, in line with the previous corresponding period, managed own coal sales was 3.9Mt, up 15 per cent, total equity coal sales was 3.7Mt, in line with the previous corresponding period and equity sales of own coal was 3.2Mt, up 14 per cent.
Speaking at the quarterly update, Whitehaven Coal’s managing director and chief executive officer Paul Flynn said the company’s coal stocks were healthy at the end of the period at 2.3 million tonnes.
“Across our open cut operations we are seeing much more consistent and better performance across production and overburden management and our guidance range has tightened accordingly,” Mr Flynn said.
“During the latter part of the December quarter there was a strong rebound in pricing and we are increasingly optimistic that underlying market dynamics are supportive of continued improvement in this area.
“It is pleasing to have reached key milestones for both Narrabri Stage 3 and Winchester South development projects, with the submission of both projects’ Environmental Impact Statements and Winchester South’s maiden Reserve Statement.
“We are continuing to progress our development pipeline but work is proceeding cautiously and in line with the company’s strict capital allocation framework.”
In his update, Mr Flynn reported on individual sites and said Maules Creek had a very good quarter.
“So the September quarter was certainly positive and the December quarter has continued on in that vein,” he said.
“The tonnes there, just for Maules, total run production at 3.25 versus 2.23, 45 per cent up, is a very solid start to the year. And saleable coal production at 2.1 versus 1.6, 32 per cent up.
“The production, as you can tell, is running at a very high rate, in fact, at our approved rate during the course of the quarter, which is very good to see.”
He said Maules Creek was performing slightly better than expected.
“And we are looking at a better outcome overall for Maules for the year,” he said.
“As a result of that, our guidance on Maules is now in the range of 11.8 to 12.4. We are doing well there.”
Speaking of the company’s Narrabri operation, he said production had proceeded well but traversing a known faulted area had slowed the mine down.
He said the new guidance for Narrabri for the full year now is a range of 5.4 to 6 million tonnes versus what the company previously guided at 6 to 6.7 million tonnes.
Gunnedah’s open cut operation performed well, similar to Maules Creek.
“December has continued in that vein and the numbers … look pretty solid relative to where they need to be for their year-end totals,” he said.
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