Statement by Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka
Regarding media speculations, the Company reports that in early February it began work on longwall 3/VII/385, which was squeezed last September and where efforts were underway to resume mining.
Due to the complicated geological conditions and because the Company was aware of the possibility of materialization of the risks identified by the Company occurring in the area, the mining of this longwall was planned and carried out for the first month under a trial start-up regime.
In recent days, the key risks that were taken into account in the scenario analysis prepared for the Company have materialized. Therefore, the Technical Council, after consultations with representatives of the Central Mining Institute, decided to halt further mining of this longwall due to the threat of underground water flooding. In an extreme case, this could preclude further mining, of the lower deposits, 389 and 391, in the entire southern part of the Puchaczów V mining area. As a result, this would pose a threat of drastic reduction of the economic reserves scheduled for future mining.
At the same time, we deny the information that the situation required the presence of rescue teams from the Company or rescuers from any Mine Rescue Station at the site.
At the same time, the Management Board would like to thank the entire staff of Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka for their hard work, as the Company's strength has always been the people who treat the Company as their own.
The commencement of the trial mining of the longwall in question in February allows the Company to manage the schedule of the longwall run so that the production plan (8.3 million tons of commercial coal) announced last September in Current Report No. 21/2022 is not at risk. The hydrogeological difficulties experienced at longwall 3/VII/385 do not directly affect the total production planned for the current year. LW Bogdanka is back to mining on an average of three to four longwalls per year and, thus, to some extent, can flexibly respond to market needs or geological and mining conditions encountered, as is the case in this situation.
We would like to inform you that the mine is currently mining with full efficiency longwalls in the Bogdanka and Nadrybie Fields, with another one planned for launch this month in the Stefanów Field.
Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka S.A. is a leading hard coal producer in Poland that stands apart from its peers in terms of its modern and efficient mining. It is one of the largest Polish hard coal mines. Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka S.A. chiefly conducts mining operations in terms of hard coal extraction, enrichment and sales. It supplies this raw material mainly to industrial offtakers. Supply contracts are long-term, and the product is sold to the commercial power sector and the industrial power sector.
The company has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since June of 2009. In August 2022, Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka S.A. returned to listing on the WIG-ESG Index.
Since October of 2015 Bogdanka has been a member of the Enea Group, the second largest player on Poland’s electrical power market in terms of the generation of electricity, which manages the entire value chain on the electricity market ranging from fuel to the generation of electricity, distribution, sales (supply) and customer service.