The announcement caps off an excellent full reporting year for the company, which also announced a record net profit of $A95.1 million for the financial year ended June 2005, 132% above its prospectus forecast.
The North Wambo longwall mine is adjacent to the company’s opencut operation, which produced 4.21 million tonnes of ROM coal in 2005. The longwall will extract 26Mt of coal from the Wambo seam at around 3Mt per annum. Mine development kicks off in November, with longwall mining scheduled for late-2006.
During the next financial year Excel will spend $A282 million on expansion projects, with $A58 million of that for the Wambo mine and $A53 million for the Millenium opencut project. Some $A98 million will be spent the following year. The investment package will increase the group’s production capacity from 5Mtpa to 20Mtpa.
ROM coal production for the year was 6.5Mt with saleable coal totalling 5Mt. Excel’s other longwall operation, the Metropolitan longwall mine, also performed well, increasing saleable production of hard coking coal by over 26%. Metropolitan produced 1.7Mt of coal during the year. The mine has increased production following widening of the longwall face and an upgrade to the drift conveyor.
The company also said it had entered into a new debt funding facility with SG Australia, made up of a $A100 million re-draw facility and an annual working capital facility of $A50 million.
“This new debt facility, when combined with equipment leasing and cash flow from operations, will allow Excel Coal to complete its capital investment program while maintaining its dividend polity and retaining a strong financial position,” said Excel Coal managing director Tony Haggarty.
