Europe's largest coking coal producer Poland-based Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa SA (JSW) has announced that it has signed the final agreement with the Polish coal miner Kompania Węglowa to acquire the Knurów-Szczygłowice coal mine for PLN 1.49 billion ($472.7) million.
For JSW this means consolidating high quality coking coal in its capital group, extending its resource base by 65 percent and ultimately ramping up its annual run rate to 18.5 million mt of coal starting from 2019. The mine's profitability will also increase following JSW's investments to grow the percentage of coking coal in total output to 80 percent within the next few years.
According to JSW, the Knurów-Szczygłowice mine produces 3.8 million mt of coal annually. At present, 38 percent of its output is high quality coking coal in which JSW specializes. It has 1.26 billion mt of economically-viable resources of hard coal, which will enable the mine to operate for more than 80 years.