Aug 5 2014
Peabody Energy announced today that it is reducing metallurgical coal production by approximately 1.5 million tons per year from the Burton Mine in Queensland, Australia.
The Burton Mine is Peabody's highest unit-cost operation, and production levels are not sustainable in the current market environment. Following negotiations with the contractor operator, production levels are expected to be reduced to approximately 1 million tons per year, as the operation targets lower-cost reserves using reduced fleets of equipment.
Peabody also reduced its annual average Australian cost estimate to the low $70 per ton range while raising third quarter financial targets. The company now targets third quarter Adjusted EBITDA of $150 million to $200 million, an increase of $10 million from the target provided in July, along with Adjusted Diluted Loss Per Share of ($0.49) to ($0.36).
The company is reducing 2014 targeted metallurgical coal sales from the Australian platform by 1 million tons to 15 to 16 million tons, with new Australian sales targets of 34 to 36 million tons.
The initiative is one of a number of positive actions in Australia as Peabody continues to target lower costs, which include increased productivity at the Metropolitan Mine following installation of a new longwall, improved performance at New South Wales thermal coal mines, ongoing owner-operator conversions, and sustained cost and productivity improvement programs across the platform.
Peabody Energy is the world's largest private-sector coal company and a global leader in sustainable mining, energy access and clean coal solutions. The company serves metallurgical and thermal coal customers in more than 25 countries on six continents. For further information, go to PeabodyEnergy.com and AdvancedEnergyForLife.com.
Source: http://www.peabodyenergy.com/