Australian miner Bowen Coking Coal outgoing executive chairperson Nick Jorss has defended the future of coal, asserting that the reports of the fossil fuel’s demise are “greatly exaggerated”.

In his AGM address, he highlighted the role that coal continues to play in powering global economies, supporting the steel industry and contributing to Australia’s prosperity, particularly in Queensland.

Jorss outlined his belief that coal had a bright future, both domestically and internationally, despite facing ongoing challenges.

“Coal has a very strong future. It provides energy for life and is essential for the production of materials which support the way we live. It keeps our lights on and our energy bills down and provides the raw materials for making the steel we all need,” he said. “It builds communities and underwrites much of our prosperity in Australia.”

Jorss also highlighted the growing global demand for coal, particularly for the production of coking coal, which is critical for steel manufacturing. “As the world electrifies, decarbonises, and urbanises, it will require more steel. And more steel will require more coking coal,” he noted. He pointed out that despite increasing challenges, global coal demand remains at record levels and is expected to continue rising for decades, driven by the world’s insatiable demand for energy and data.

“In the face of record demand, global coal supply remains constrained due to lack of new mine approvals and increasing regulatory and capital constraints,” said Jorss.

Meanwhile, a key focus of Jorss’ address was the formation of Coal Australia, an industry body he described as a personal passion project. Coal Australia aims to promote the value of coal and advocate for the workers, communities, and stakeholders in the industry. Recent polling commissioned by the body found strong support for coal in Queensland communities, including 79% of Southeast Queensland voters backing the idea of using more of the state’s coal domestically to help lower power prices. Further, 61% of voters supported incentivising coal companies to remain in Queensland by offering internationally competitive royalty rates.

“I would encourage all shareholders to visit the Coal Australia website and join over 16 000 supporters as Friends of Coal who have signed up to support our critical industry,” Jorss said.

“While some of our political leaders play catch-up on the importance of our industry, community support is very strong.”

Jorss also acknowledged the difficult decisions Bowen Coking Coal had to make during the past year. Like many in the industry, Bowen faced significant challenges, including extreme weather events, rail delays, and rising costs for labour, consumables, fuel, and power.

Further, Bowen navigated an attempt by a former shareholder to unseat the board, a move Jorss described as a distraction from the company’s strategic focus.

In response to these challenges, Bowen made several moves to streamline operations and position the company for long-term growth. This included the closure of two mining pits, the Bluff operation near Blackwater and the Broadmeadow East mine near Moranbah, which were both impacted by a combination of coal price weakness, geological difficulties, and high state royalties. While these closures were difficult, Jorss said they allowed the company to refocus its efforts on its most promising assets, particularly the Burton mine complex.

“These hard decisions weren’t made lightly but allowed the company to concentrate its efforts at the main Burton mine complex where our larger, longer life mining operations with higher margin deposits better utilise our infrastructure at lower cost to maximise returns,” Jorss explained.

The Ellensfield South mine, which began production in September 2023, produced a record 820 000 t of run-of-mine (RoM) coal in the June quarter, and next door, the Plumtree North mine is currently under development to ensure our production levels stay strong for the next five years.

On Thursday, Bowen Coking Coal reported that it had expedited first RoM coal at Plumtree North.

This follows the recent completion of a partially-underwritten A$70-million renounceable entitlement offer that provides Bowen with balance sheet flexibility to fund the Plumtree North mine development costs, pre-payments, guarantees, and general working capital requirements.

“We are extremely grateful to all shareholders for supporting us in our efforts to continue with mine development activities at the Plumtree North mine, that is anticipated to provide RoM coal to the Burton mine complex for the next five years,” said CEO Daryl Edwards.

The 2024 financial year was one of record production for Bowen, but also a year of consolidation following the rapid commencement of mining and ramp-up at the Burton complex in the previous year.

The company mined a record 2.9-million tonnes of RoM coal over the year and sold a record 1.9-million tonnes of clean coal, 1.5-million tonnes of which was from the continuing Burton Complex operations.

LEADERSHIP CHANGES

Meanwhile, Bowen has announced leadership changes to position the company for its next stage of growth.

Jorss will return to a nonexecutive director role and Bowen will appoint a successor before the second quarter of next year.

Bowen made two more nonexecutive board appointments, namely that of Staffan Ever, cofounder and chairperson of Square Group, and Michael Chapman, a mining engineer who previously held roles at White Energy and Felix Resources.