He said losses in the first quarter were in line with expectations after a major production shortfall at Harworth colliery.

“We have seen some performance improvement in the deep mine business, offset by a production shortfall at Harworth colliery which was halted for a period in January and February due to excess methane,” Jones said.

“Additional drainage and ventilation equipment is being installed to disperse as well as capture and utilise this gas, and production has been resumed.”

Deep mine production in the company’s seven ongoing mines in the first three months was 2.1 million tonnes compared with 2Mt in 2004. Surface mine output was 300,000t.

“Surface mines production was in line with expectations on lower operating costs and we continue to work hard to obtain additional planning permissions to secure the future of this business,” Jones said.