Production improves at Hargreaves Services

In a trading update, the company said it introduced the new ways of working at Maltby near Rotherham in April and had already seen an improvement in production consistency.

It also said the “harvesting and delivery of pond fines” from Maltby had helped to compensate for the “previously inconsistent underground performance” at the site.

Hargreaves said it was in the process of negotiating an incentive scheme with ING Bank, the owners of Yorkshire site Hatfield Colliery, which was recently sold by administrators at Powerfuel Mining to a new Dutch-registered holding company.

The colliery will continue to be run by managers transferred across from Powerfuel Mining with support from Hargreaves, which will receive a fixed fee for an initial 12-month contract.

The company said: “Although we anticipate expending considerable efforts in the first few months, we are excited by the opportunities presented by this project.”

“The management contract will utilise all aspects of the group’s expertise and experience and we are in the process of negotiating an incentive scheme with ING Bank, the owners of Hatfield Colliery, which is likely to involve the granting of equity to incentivise and reward Hargreaves for delivering on a number of key performance objectives.”

Hargreaves also announced a coal contract to trade the first 800kt of coal from Hatfield Colliery.

It is expected to announce its preliminary results in September.