Even if....met coal prices were to take a beating sometime down the road, the Donkin mine will be a huge money maker for Xstrata. All coal mines have huge transportation costs to get the coal on board a vessel and most mines have a long sail to market i.e. big ocean freight bill. The exception would be the Queensland coal going into China, but take for instance the Teck shipments from the BC west coast going into the European market, sailing time via Panama at least 4 weeks. Donkin coal has only a few kilometers going to port and the sailing time from Halifax to Rotterdam is 8 days tops!! This translates into a cheap freight bill for seaborne coking coal and I think it's a sure home run bet that Xstrata will open up this mine and begin to produce / ship in the near future.
GLTA