Harare – Coal miner, Hwange Colliery Company Limited said it produced 215 564 tonnes in August 2018 of which 169 520 tonnes were sold.
In a statement the miner said of the mined product, 34 579 was from underground mine operations.
The company has fallen behind by two (2) months in the payments ($ 4.6 million) due to employee creditors under the Company's creditor's scheme of arrangement.
Hwange said while this is disturbing the Company assures its creditors that this is a temporary setback which is resolvable.
“The Company has fallen behind on the payment of interest ($ 3 million) on Class A debentures that should have commenced on the anniversary of sanctioning of the scheme by the High Court on 10 May 2017.
“The Company has accumulated a coal stockpile of about 345 000 tonnes ($13 million) being 1,5 months coal under the supply agreement with Zimbabwe Power Company that requires delivery before payment will be made.”
The coal miner said it has suspended the responsible senior management in an effort to deal with unsatisfactory work performance and enforcing a culture of performance.
Additionally, the company said in the meantime, the Company is currently engaging its customers for payments to enable it to meet its short term obligations.
The coal miner has been struggling to return to profitability over the years and early this month during the 46th Kamandama disaster commemorations the company announced plans to upscale production to 300 000 tonnes of coal per month beginning this June.
A $352 million debt, however, continues to weigh heavily on the company which entered into a Scheme of Arrangement as it sought to get some breathing space to conjure a recovery.
Government has insisted that all its mining assets should not only return to profitability, but should operate at optimum level to meet President Mnangagwa’s target of Zimbabwe becoming an upper middle income country by 2030.
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