Petmin highlights delays in accessing new mining areas at Somkhele

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE-listed Petmin’s normalised earnings decreased by 43% to 8.49c a share for the six months to December 31.

The company attributed the lower earnings to lower average selling prices for anthracite exports and 12% higher operating costs as a result of delayed access to new mining areas at its Somkhele mine, in KwaZulu-Natal.

“Mining costs were adversely affected by illegal activities of a few individuals that prevented access to the KwaQubuka mining area. A court interdict has been obtained against the individuals,” the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Delays in accessing the new KwaQubuka mining area meant that an additional cut of deeper coal, which is more expensive to mine, was extracted from the Luhlanga pit.

Basic earnings a share, meanwhile, reached 8.3c, compared with a loss of 7.15c in the six months to December 31, 2015, when Petmin incurred a R115-million impairment of its investment in Veremo. 

Petmin had invested R27-million in capital expenditure (capex) at Somkhele in the six months under review, with R18-million spent on a plant expansion project to increase recoveries of fine coal and R9-million spent to maintain operations with the start of development of the new KwaQubuka openpit mining area.

Capex for the full year to June 30, is expected to reach R50-million.