Coronado Global Resources Inc. said Aug. 5 that first-half run-of-mine coal production climbed 7.3% yearly to 16.7 million tonnes, on the back of operating efficiencies at the Curragh operation in Queensland, Australia.
Saleable coal production in the period inched up 1.8% to 10.4 Mt, as sales volumes grew 5.3% to 10.4 Mt.
Net income for the first six months of the year surged 92.7% to US$214.3 million. Improved realized pricing of US$137.50 per tonne, higher percentage of metallurgical coal sold and increased sales volumes pushed revenue up 10.6% to US$1.23 billion.
The metallurgical coal producer declared an interim dividend of 41 cents per CDI, comprising of a franked dividend of 11.2 cents per CDI and a capital return of 29.8 cents per CDI.
Coronado's full-year production guidance was cut to between 21.1 Mt and 21.6 Mt, reflecting an up to 500,000-tonne reduction in expected thermal coal output. Cost guidance remained at between US$51 per tonne and US$52 per tonne, as capital expenditure guidance range remained at between US$160 million and US$180 million.
Separately, Coronado said that it aims to deliver 15 Mt of annual saleable coal by 2023 from 12.9 Mt, under a new mine plan for Curragh.
The revised Curragh plan includes three phases, with phase one involving extracting the incremental tonne through the integration of the Stanwell reserve area, and phase two increasing the capacity and efficiency of the coal handling and preparation plant and train load out system to accommodate higher production rates.
In phase three, the miner plans to conduct early assessments for potential growth opportunities — including open pit mining at the Curragh Central and South deposits, underground mining at Curragh and Curragh North, as well as further exploration and development of MDL162 — that will feed sustained growth at the operation over time.
