MC Mining Ltd said on Friday it is exploring ways to speed up the start of production at its flagship Makhado coking coal project in Limpopo.

The Western Australia-based coal miner in South Africa owns Uitkomst Colliery, an operating metallurgical and thermal coal mine, and Makhado project, an exploration and evaluation asset.

In an operational update, the company expects to complete the process to select the mining, operating and maintenance contractors for Makhado in the first quarter next year.

The detailed design of the coal handling and processing plant and related infrastructure for this project is ongoing in preparation for procurement.

The critical early works activities to ensure that the site is secure, as well as construction of water infrastructure for the plant continue and will be completed with available cash resources, it said.

MC Mining said the Makhado project remains a significant strategic asset for the company that has the potential to take its production profile to in excess of 800,000 tonnes per annum of steelmaking hard coking coal.

The coal miner said it is assessing the various scenarios for the Makhado project to accelerated start of coal production in the second half next year.

The company also said Uitkomst Colliery turnaround initiatives, introduced early this year, through underground production continues to yield positive results.

The poor performance of the rail network in South Africa has hurt Uitkomst, leading to higher logistics costs for export customers.

Shares in MC Mining were flat at R 1.90 on Friday morning in Johannesburg. In London, MC Mining shares closed down 7.1% at 6.50 pence each on Thursday.

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