American Resources Corp says it is set to pick up its second Joy (Komatsu) 14CM10AA continuous miner for use at its Carnegie 1 coking coal mine in Kentucky, US.
Once on site, the company will install proximity detection safety technology on the equipment – expected over the next two weeks. It hopes to commence production with the continuous miner in early April, it said.
The Carnegie 1 mine is the first in a series of underground metallurgical coal mines American Resources is bringing into production within a large contiguous boundary of High Vol A/B metallurgical coal in the Lower Alma coal seam.
As detailed in the company’s previously announced expansion plan at Carnegie 1, American Resources expects to restart production with two Joy 14CM10AA continuous miners.
Previously, American Resources operated one continuous miner at Carnegie 1, but due to high demand for the metallurgical coal produced by this mine, the company recently announced an expansion plan to increase the coal production at the mine. The acquisition of the second continuous miner is the last piece of equipment needed to achieve this expanded production, it said.
The two continuous miners will initially be operated as a ‘walking’ super section during two production shifts. The initial production range of this first phase of expanded production is expected to be 14,000-20,000 tons/mth (12,701-18,144 t/mth), an increase from less than 7,000 tons/mth historically from this mine using just one continuous miner during one production shift.
American Resources said: “The company expects to complete this first phase of development by the second week of April. Upon completion, American Resources has previously detailed plans to even further expand the coal production at Carnegie 1 to eventually bring total output to approximately 32,000-42,000 tons/mth.”
The coal produced from this mine is sold on current metallurgical contracts that range from $97-102/ton FOB railcar.
As in the past, all production at the Carnegie mine will be trucked to the company’s McCoy Elkhorn Coal facility (pictured) to be processed and loaded onto rail. Additionally, the enhanced production will give American Resources the ability to blend the coal from its Carnegie mine with other metallurgical production at McCoy Elkhorn to offer its customers a high-vol metallurgical coal product, the company said. As a result of the increased tonnage, the fixed operating costs at the McCoy process and load out complex will further be reduced on a per ton basis, providing further margin expansion, according to the company.