Rhino opened operations at its Eagle #3 mine in Raleigh County, WV, producing some 64,000 tons of metallurgical coal during the first two months of the second quarter 2012. Eagle is expected to produce at a rate of about 490,000t per annum when it reaches full capacity.

Meanwhile, the miner idled its Rob Fork and Tug River complexes in Kentucky and WV which resulted in a five-week layoff for direct mining personnel.

The move intended to monetize excess inventory and reduce bank borrowings is not expected to interfere with current shipping schedules.

Rob Fork in Kentucky includes 24.5 million tons of proven and probable coal reserves, while Tug River which straddles the Kentucky-West Virginia border, holds an estimated 23.1Mt of proven and probable coal reserves.

In the first two months of the second quarter of 2012, Rhino produced about 308,000t of steam coal from its Northern Appalachia operations and 82,000t of met coal and 128,000t of steam coal from its Central Appalachia operations.

During this period, Rhino’s Castle Valley operations in Utah produced about 148,000t of steam coal.