At the crossroads

摘要

The Benga coal resource now totals 4 billion t (measured 314 million, indicated 720 million, inferred 2.9 billion). This includes an initial coal reserve of 273 million t (proven 181 million, probable 92 million). Initial ROM production should be 5.3 million tpa to produce 1.7 million t of high quality hard coking coal and 300,000 t of export thermal coal, with the company forecasting the first shipments during Q1 2011. Two further phases are planned. By 2014, upgrading of the preparation plant should increase ROM production to 10.6 million tpa with a final product of 3.3 million t of hard coking coal and 2 million t of export thermal coal. A final stage with as yet no timeline is anticipated to increase production to approximately 20 million tpa ROM.