(Recasts paragraph 1, adds background and further details on stake sale in paragraphs 2 & 3; adds forecast in paragraph 6)
April 19 (Reuters) - Australian coal miner Whitehaven (WHC) said on Friday strong performance at the Maules Creek and Gunnedah open cut mines resulted in an improved third-quarter output and indicated that a stake sale process for its recently bought Blackwater mine is underway.
The country's top independent coal miner had in October said it would buy BHP Group's (BHP) Blackwater and Daunia mines, which are part of the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) metallurgical coal joint venture in Queensland, for $4.1 billion.
"A sell down process of about 20% of Blackwater to global steel producers as strategic joint venture partners is underway with strong bidder interest," Whitehaven indicated.
Whitehaven also added that the integration of the operations in Daunia and Blackwater is continuing in line with its plan.
The miner posted a 2.3% rise in third-quarter run-of-mine (ROM) coal production at 4.4 million tonnes (Mt), compared with 4.3 Mt a year earlier.
It is also on track to meet its overall ROM production forecast of 18.2 Mt to 20.7 Mt and sales outlook for FY24.
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