I don't have any answers. Here is one from the AFR after the...

I don't have any answers. Here is one from the AFR after the close of markets

Pinned post–4.22PM

ASX falls; coal stocks rally; GyG drops

Joanne Tran

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index fell just 0.2 per cent, or 16.8 points, to 7750.7 at the closing bell, with seven out of the 11 sectors in the red. The All Ordinaries slid 0.3 per cent.

The sharemarket opened lower as markets digested the latest results from the French election. Marine Le Pen’s far-right party was poised to win the first round of France’s legislative election with a smaller margin than some polls had indicated. That helped lift the euro 0.5 per cent to buy $US1.0767.

But it was news that a fire had halted production at mining giant Anglo American’s Grosvenor project in Queensland that had a bigger impact on the market. ASX coal miners including Coronado Global Resources, Whitehaven Coal, and Stanmore Resources were among the best performers on the ASX 200 on Monday.

Coal output

Coronado shares rocketed 8.9 per cent to $1.29, Whitehaven jumped 6.3 per cent to $8.13 and Stanmore rallied 5.1 per cent to $3.72.

“The loss of production from this mine will tighten the approximately 90 million of tonnes per annum [of the] seaborne PLV metallurgical coal market,” Jefferies analysts wrote in a note to clients.

And

12.25PM

Anglo coking coal mine blaze to have months long impact

Bloomberg

A methane explosion on Saturday caused a fire at the Grosvenor underground mine, which accounts for about 30 per cent of the company’s annual production of coking coal in Queensland state, Anglo said in an emailed statement today. No one was injured.

“The mine team is working with specialist teams from the Queensland Mines Rescue Service and the regulatory authorities to extinguish the underground fire, prior to being able to assess the steps toward a safe re-entry into the mine,” Anglo said in the statement. “These procedures are expected to take several months as a result of the likely damage underground.”

The blaze may complicate the London-based company’s plan to sell its assets that mine the steelmaking fuel after it rebuffed a $US49 billion ($75 billion) takeover by BHP.

After the world’s biggest miner walked away in May, Anglo chief executive Duncan Wanblad announced a radical overhaul and restructure of the business, with analysts anticipating a swift sale of the coal portfolio due to its relatively high value.

The fire could mean the sale of Grosvenor and the nearby Moranbah North coal project – among Anglo’s five mines of the fuel in Queensland – will take longer than expected and the bidding price will be lower, said Jefferies analyst Christopher LaFemina, in a note on Monday. The researcher had expected those two mines to fetch about $US3 billion.

The expected cut to production due to the fire would weigh on Anglo’s share price and the asset sale, RBC Capital Markets analyst Marina Calero said in a note.

Grosvenor reached first output in 2016 but was closed in mid-2020 after an explosion that seriously injured five workers. It only returned to production in February 2022.

The coal beds in Anglo mines contain a relatively high level of methane. Anglo drains approximately 60 per cent of the methane gas from the seams and then supplies it to the Queensland electricity grid.

11.58AM