Atlantic Coal Plc : 2011 production update

Company Atlantic Coal PLC TIDM ATC Headline 2011 Production Update Released 09:30 24-Jan-2012 Number 0683W09

RNS Number : 0683W Atlantic Coal PLC
24 January 2012
Atlantic Coal plc / Index: AIM / Epic: ATC / Sector: Mining

Atlantic Coal plc ("Atlantic" or the "Company") 2011 production update

Atlantic Coal plc, the AIM listed open cast coal production and processing company with activities in Pennsylvania, USA, announces a production update for the 12 months ending 31 December 2011 from the Stockton Colliery ("Stockton"), its opencast anthracite operation in Pennsylvania.
During 2011 Atlantic mined 208,730 tons of run-of-mine coal ("ROM") (2010:
203.060) (against a targeted annual production of 300,000 tons of ROM for 2011)
and removed 3,257,776 bank cubic yards ("BCY") of overburden (2010:
2,837,863). 233,241 ROM coal was washed (2010: 229,293) which produced
105,403 tons of clean coal (2010: 88,620). Sales for the year were 106,403 tons (2010: 97,349) at an average price of US$142.33 per ton (2010: $124.43). 23,149 tons of ROM coal is also held as stock (2010: 21,216).
As announced on 14 July 2011, the Company has experienced increasing mechanical problems with its DeMag H185 excavator and ceased its operation altogether from September 2011. The Company acquired a Komatsu PC2000 hydraulic excavator ("Komatsu") as a replacement in October 2011 and, since becoming operational, this has already had a positive effect on production which the Board anticipates will be further enhanced when the second Liebherr 9250 19- yard bucket hydraulic excavator ("Liebherr") becomes operational, scheduled to be in Q1 2012.
In addition, whilst the construction of the railroad diversion was completed in Q3
2011 on schedule, certain delays have occurred in the negotiations with operators regarding commissioning. These delays are reflected in a higher ratio of coal to overburden than Atlantic's mine plan had originally forecast. However the Board is confident that these discussions will progress positively and looks forward to updating shareholders at the appropriate time.

Production summary:

Run-of- minel (tons)	Overburden Removed (k)	Production Tonnage (tons)	Coal Sales (tons)	Average Price (US$)	Revenue (US$)
208,730	3.257,776	100,139	106,403	142.33	14,196,884

Atlantic Managing Director, Steve Best, said, "Whilst we had anticipated higher production figures from Stockton for 2011, we remain confident that, with the Komatsu already operational and a second Liebherr becoming operational in Q1
2012, we will see increased production for 2012 and indeed, both initial production and sales price figures for January 2012 look to be a large improvement on those achieved in January 2011.

**ENDS**

For further information on the Company, visit: www.atlanticcoal.comor contact:

Steve Best	Atlantic Coal plc	Tel: [phone]
Nick Naylor	Allenby Capital Limited	Tel: [phone]
Alex Price	Allenby Capital Limited	Tel: [phone]
Peter Rose	FoxDavies	Tel: [phone]
Simon Leathers	FoxDavies	Tel: [phone]
Hugo de Salis	St Brides Media & Finance Ltd	Tel: [phone]
Elisabeth Cowell	St Brides Media & Finance Ltd	Tel: [phone]

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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