JSW hopes for decision regarding Prairie Mining assets in July

WSE-listed coking coal miner JSW continues its talks with another listed peer Prairie Mining and expects decisions to be made in July, according to JSW CEO Daniel Ozon. If the talks are successful, JSW doesn’t exclude seeking financing on the US market. “The market is always friendly, although some clouds did appear on the horizon. The bond issue on the US market is related to whether we reach agreement on the Prairie Mining assets,” Ozon said in an interview with the Polish Press Agency PAP. “We could finance the acquisition ourselves with cash, but CAPEX, which includes building the new shaft and processing plant can be estimated at several PLN billion. But those assets would generate for us 2-2.5 million metric tons of coal annually,” he added. JSW is mulling a $500 million benchmark bond issue. JSW is interested either in acquiring the Prairie Mining company as a whole or just particular assets. While all the assets are being discussed, the ones in the Lubelskie voivodship are “complicated,” according to Ozon.