Atlantic Coal's first-quarter 2014 clean coal production totaled 37,757/st in the first quarter, down 29.2% from 53,324/st the same quarter a year ago on operational problems caused by a frigid US winter, the company said Tuesday in a production update.
Quarterly production from its Stockton mine near Hazleton, Pennsylvania, fell 9.1% from the previous three-month period.
The AIM-listed anthracite coal mining company's run-of-mine production was 85,270/st for Q1 2014, down 18.3% from Q4 2013. ROM production for the prior-year quarter was not provided.
Atlantic said clean coal sales for Q1 2014 totaled 36,449/st, down 31.6% from the year before and 13.8% from Q4 2013.
The miner said its clean coal stockpile stood at 2,702/st at the end of Q1, slightly below the 2,922/st at the end of Q4 2013.
The ROM stockpile, meanwhile, stood at 58,036/st for Q1, down 2.9% with 59,791/st on pile at the end of Q4 2013.
Atlantic Coal managing director Steve Best attributed the production and sales slide to "the coldest and longest winter in Pennsylvania for 20 years," adding that washing coal at freezing temperatures had been "particularly problematic," while mining operations often had to be suspended or scaled back.
"On a more positive note, trials on improving both mined coal and wash plant recoveries are progressing well," Best said.
Best added that this -- along with other operational improvements, such as a 40% reduction in blasting costs -- made it possible to "achieve overall improvements in production, efficiency and profitability for the rest of 2014."
The Stockton anthracite mine holds reserves of about 2.8 million/st of ROM coal, which equates to about 1.3 million/st of high quality, high carbon, washed anthracite over a seven-year mine life, according to the company's website.