The company said its third thermal coal mine in the country was forecast to begin production in October with a ramp-up to a full 750,000 tonnes per annum output by June 2013.

Though recent advances at Penumbra have caused a cost overrun of $100,000, Continental says the project is fully funded and remains on budget with over two thirds of the contract expenditure placed.

The news comes as the miner updates its performance in South Africa where its Vlakvarkfontein and Ferreira mines have produced 176,000t of coal during July, a 2% increase over output at the same time last year.

Total thermal coal sales in July came to 142,000t, representing a 1% increase over sales in July 2011.

Sydney-based mining advisory firm Breakaway Research recommended Continental stock as a speculative buy earlier this month, noting the miner’s 1.8 million tonne per annum coal production and its target to produce 5.5Mtpa by 2015.

Breakaway also cited Continental’s De Wittekans project which has potential for a 30-year mine life at 3.6Mtpa, the miner’s prospective Botswana licences and its potential acquisition of a 50% interst in a Colombian coking coal asset.

The Colombian project currently undergoing due diligence analysis includes five mining licences covering 1500 hectares, an existing underground mine and an adjacent exploration ground.

Continental holds a JORC-compliant coal resource of 2.8 billion tonnes and a mining coal reserve of 64Mt.