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“Given the positive outlook for coal and the opportunities at hand, Caledon will remain one of the few independent coal producers in the Bowen Basin and focus on growing the production at its Cook mine and developing the Minyango project,” the company said.

The Australia and London-listed company hired RBC Capital Markets to solicit interest following a non-binding conditional offer earlier in the year.

“Despite the high level of interest and recognition of both the quality of Caledon’s assets and the scarcity of high-quality coking coal assets in general, no party has yet provided a final and binding offer,” Caledon said.

“In the judgment of the directors, the prospects for maximising shareholder value through a sale have been fully explored and remaining in a formal offer period would be detrimental to the ongoing business of the company.”

Cook and Minyango updates

Caledon is expecting 485,000 tonnes of saleable production from its Cook mine this year with 83% coking coal and the remaining amount thermal coal.

The Queensland coal producer is investigating ramp-up options to lift production to 700,000t.

For the nearby Minyango deposit, Caledon has finished the initial stage of field work for the ecological study necessary for environmental approval, with the second field program to start in the June quarter 2010.

Minyango will use Cook’s wash plant and rail infrastructure to make a larger mining complex. The project is forecast to start in 2013 on the new coal loading terminal at Wiggins Island becoming available.

Minyango is targeting 4 million tonnes of run-of-mine production per annum through a longwall with only a 50-70m wide face.

The rising Aussie dollar versus the US dollar is denting Caledon’s bottom line.

Caledon expects an after-tax loss of $A3.4-5 million for July to December compared to a first-half loss of $7.7 million.

Caledon shares are down 30.4% this morning to 74.5c.