Universal Coal Plc intends to start phase-two open-pit operations at its New Clydesdale colliery in South Africa in January 2017, it said on Dec. 19.

The company's phase-one underground operations at the colliery, which started in September, are set to achieve nameplate capacity of 900,000 tonnes per annum of run-of-mine production by the end of the current quarter.

The open-pit operations will add run-of-mine output of about 2.0 million tonnes per annum of premium quality domestic thermal and low phosphorus metallurgical coal from the satellite Roodekop pit after steady state is achieved in mid-2017.

The New Clydesdale colliery delivered initial export-quality coal sales of 27,710 tonnes in October, which increased to 37,000 sales tonnes in November.