REG - Bens Creek Group PLC - H1 Production Update

Bens CreekAnnouncement

04/10/2023 07:15

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20231004:nRSD5917Oa&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 5917O  Bens Creek Group PLC  04 October 2023

Prior to publication, certain information contained within this announcement
was deemed by the Company to constitute inside information for the purposes of
Regulation 11 of the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310.
With the publication of this announcement, this information is now considered
to be in the public domain.

 

4 October 2023

 

Bens Creek Group plc

("Bens Creek" or the "Company")

 

H1 Production Update

 

Bens Creek Group plc (AIM:BEN), the owner of a metallurgical coal mine in
North America supplying the steel industry, is pleased to provide the
following production update for the six month period to 30 September 2023.

 

Clean tons of metallurgical coal produced in the six month period to 30
September 2023 and the 6 month comparative period to 30 September 2022

 

       April   May     June    July    August  September  6 month totals

 2023  27,681  34,116  29,416  20,994  42,691  50,100     204,998
 2022  13,065  8,970   20,897  14,166  25,200  17,630     99,928

 

Adam Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of Bens Creek, commented:

 

"We are delighted, as previously promised, to move to providing details of
quarterly production numbers of clean coal.

 

In the period from 1 April to 30 September 2023, we produced approximately
205,000 tons of clean coal, which was a record six monthly production figure
for the Company and up over 100% on the same period last year (six months to
30 September 2022: 99,928 tons). The production in the six months to 30
September 2023 is also equivalent to 75% of the clean coal produced by the
Company in the financial year to 31 March 2023 (272,318 tons).

 

September 2023 itself was a new monthly production high for the Company with
over 50,000 clean tons produced, despite only having the two Highwall Miners
("HWMs") in production, one of which was on double shift, for around half of
the month. With the two HWMs being in full operation the Company anticipates
that clean coal production in October 2023 will be higher than September 2023.

 

In July 2023 we also suffered a period with no HWM production following the
previously reported mining incident which resulted in both HWMs being out of
action for a short period. This resulted in clean coal production during July
2023 being 50% lower than August 2023 and July 2023 being the lowest
production month in the six month period.

 

With both HWMs now in full operation the Company expects to be able to
continue the growth in production into the next quarter. This increased
production is further enhanced by the reduction of costs per ton from June
2023, and the recent rebound in the met coal price from its lows of $191 in
August 2023 to $238 at the current time.

 

We remain optimistic for the future for the Company."

 

 

For further information please contact:

 Bens Creek Group plc                                            +44 (0) 204 558 2300

 Adam Wilson, CEO

 Peter Shea, Chief of Staff

 Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)    +44 (0) 203 328 5656

 Nick Athanas / Nick Naylor / George Payne (Corporate Finance)

 Kelly Gardiner / Guy McDougall (Sales and Corporate Broking)

 WH Ireland Limited (Joint Broker)                               +44 (0) 207 220 1666

 Harry Ansell / Katy Mitchell

 

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  UPDMJBLTMTIMBFJ