Company News

Sept. 25 – Gas levels at Peabody’s North Goonyella Mine in Queensland have been variable and remain elevated, with employees and other personnel remaining above ground. Safety is Peabody’s number one priority, and our focus has been on conducting a methodical approach to restore normal gas levels in a safe manner.

 

The company is working with the Queensland Mines Inspectorate and third-party experts as we continue a progressive plan aimed at reducing gas levels. Responsive steps taken to-date have included drilling bore holes for monitoring; pumping nitrogen; and sealing off one of the entries to the completed longwall mining area.

 

Peabody appreciates the ongoing work of the team at North Goonyella, the Inspectorate, independent technical experts, union representatives and other people engaged in the process. The company intends to provide periodic updates on PeabodyEnergy.com.

 

On September 1 during a scheduled longwall move, an area of the North Goonyella Mine in a remote area of the Bowen Basin in Australia began registering elevated gas levels caused by oxidation of some coal. Mine management quickly assessed the facts, took appropriate steps, removed people from underground, contacted the Queensland Mines Inspectorate and independent industry and scientific experts, and began mobilizing resources to correct the situation.

 

Peabody has relocated more than half of the major equipment associated with the originally planned two-month longwall move when elevated gas levels were detected. The company has notified customers of expected impacts to October shipments from the extended longwall move.

 

Determination of the timing of completion of the longwall move and expected financial effects will be made when gas levels subside and personnel can safely resume longwall move activities.

 

This statement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the securities laws. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include words or variation of words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "targets," "would," "will," "should," "goal," "could" or "may" or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements provide management's current expectations or predictions of future conditions, events or results. All statements that address operating performance, events or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future are forward-looking statements. They may include estimates of revenues, income, earnings per share, cost savings, capital expenditures, dividends, share repurchases, liquidity, capital structure, market share, industry volume, or other financial items, descriptions of management's plans or objectives for future operations, or descriptions of assumptions underlying any of the above. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and reflect the company's good faith beliefs, assumptions and expectations, but they are not guarantees of future performance or events. Furthermore, the company disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, except as required by law. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, a variety of economic, competitive and regulatory factors, many of which are beyond the company's control. Such factors are described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as additional factors we may describe from time to time in other filings with the SEC. You may get such filings for free at our website at www.peabodyenergy.com. You should understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors and, consequently, you should not consider any such list to be a complete set of all potential risks or uncertainties.