Coal – Page 104 – Republic of Mining

The 2015 Energy Outlook Series: Coal – by Vicky Validakis (Australian Mining – December 8, 2014)

December 8, 2014

http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/home

Coal has had a tumultuous 12 months but will 2015 be any better? Coal prices declined steadily in the first months of 2014 in response to a combination of in-creased supply and lower import demand from China.

Australian benchmark contract prices for high-quality metallurgical coal settled at $US120 in the September quarter, a price that left many coal operations unprofitable.

Thermal coal fared even worse, with Newcastle free on board spot prices averaging US$73 a tonne in the first eight months of 2014, down 16 per cent year on year. The price glut mean something had to give, and 2014 was the year the coal industry decided to restructure its workforce leading to massive job cuts.

Australian Mining estimates that more than 2500 jobs in the coal sector were cut as mining companies either downsized their operations or shut them down completely.

The Integra coal complex in the Hunter Valley was an early victim of coal’s fall from grace, as Vale announced in May that it would close the operation, taking 500 with it.

Mongolia restarts bidding for giant coal project as economy flags (Reuters India – December 3, 2014)

December 3, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

Dec 3 (Reuters) – Mongolia has relaunched an international tender to develop its giant Tavan Tolgoi coal project as it tries to boost a flagging economy hit by falling commodity prices and a decline in foreign investment.

The latest attempt has drawn interest from Hong-Kong listed Mongolia Mining Corp (MMC), U.S.-based Peabody Energy Corp and Japan’s Itochu Corp, despite weak global coal prices.

Tavan Tolgoi holds around 7.5 billion tonnes of coking coal, but Mongolia’s cash-strapped government has struggled to finance its development, and little progress has been made since an international bidding process collapsed in 2011.

The Mongolian Mining Corp (MMC) said on Monday that it has formed a consortium with “certain independent parties” to submit a bid for the project, located around 300 kilometres (186 miles) from the Chinese border.

Interested firms had to notify the Mongolian government of their intention to bid for the block before a Dec. 1 deadline, with a shortlist expected to be released by Dec. 15, MMC said.

The firm declined to give further details of its bid, when contacted by Reuters. Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, the state-owned entity in charge of the project, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ukraine faces coal shortage with rebels controlling mines (Business Insider – November 29, 2014)

December 1, 2014

http://www.businessinsider.com/

Kiev (AFP) – With the rich seams of coal in eastern Ukraine under rebel control and Russia cutting off supplies, the Kiev government faces the awkward prospect of turning to its enemies for help.

As winter set in, the biggest fear in recent months was that Ukraine would run out of the natural gas that heats the country. A last minute deal with Russia averted that disaster. But now a new one is looming as coal shortages threaten to leave the country desperately short of electricity.

Ukraine gets some 40 percent of its power from coal-fired plants, and has traditionally had a surplus of coal, producing some 86 million tonnes at last count in 2012.

But the Russian-backed rebellion in the east has cut the government off from large swathes of the coal-rich mining region of Donbass. Then, without warning, Russia announced it was stopping coal supplies to Ukraine last week, claiming “force majeure” but offering no explanation.

“I don’t know for how long Russia intends to stop coal deliveries. If it stops them for a long period, our thermal stations will not be able to function at full power,” said Ukraine’s Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan.

Turkey’s miners pay a deadly price for cheap coal – by Piotr Zalewski (Financial Times – November 27, 2014)

November 27, 2014

http://www.ft.com/intl/companies/mining

In parts of Istanbul, as in most Turkish cities, you can smell the coming of winter before you properly feel it. Just as the first cold spell arrives, a woolly, sour blanket of smoke, pumped into the air from coal-fired furnaces, settles over the city’s poor neighbourhoods.

Turks are noticeably better off than a decade ago, but with the prospect of high natural gas bills, many still rely on coal to heat their homes. More than 2m families rely on the state to provide it for free.

Under a programme launched by the ruling Justice and Development (AK) party in 2003, a government agency hands out about 2m tons of coal to underprivileged families each year.

For a country that depends on imports for roughly 70 per cent of its rapidly growing energy needs, coal appears to be both part of the solution and part of the problem.

Over the next decade, Turkey’s government plans to increase the share of coal in electricity production, from 25 to 30 per cent. To help meet its goal of total installed capacity of 120,000MWs by 2023, it also plans to tap into all the country’s coal reserves.

Down Under firms dig for B.C. coal opportunities – by Nelson Bennett (Business Vancouver – November 25, 2014)

November 25, 2014

http://www.biv.com/

Australian juniors developing new met coal mines in the province despite global glut

Despite a global glut of metallurgical or “met” coal that has shuttered mines in B.C., Australian junior mining and exploration companies have been moving into the province with plans for new mines – underscoring the view of industry analysts that the long-term demand for steelmaking coal is strong, particularly for B.C.’s high-grade coal.

Jameson Resources Ltd. (ASX:JAL) is among the handful of Australian junior miners that have recently been buying up claims in B.C.’s coal-rich Peace River and Crowsnest regions.

The company recently applied through the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office for a new open-pit mine 13 kilometres northeast of Sparwood, not far from Teck Resources Ltd.’s (TSX:TCK.B) Fording River and Coal Mountain met coal mines.

With a capital expenditure that Cannacord Genuity estimates at US$123 million to US$339 million, Jameson Resources’ Crown Mountain coal mine would produce an estimated 3.7 million tonnes per year over 16 years.

Although Jameson is headquartered in Perth, its chairman is David Fawcett, a B.C. mining engineer with an extensive history in B.C.

German plea to Sweden over threat to coal mines – by Pilita Clark, David Crouch and Jeevan Vasagar (Financial Times – November 24, 2014)

November 24, 2014

http://www.ft.com/home/us

London, Gothenburg and Berlin – Germany has made a dramatic appeal to Sweden to help it out of an energy dilemma that threatens Europe’s biggest economy as it shifts away from nuclear power and fossil fuels to renewable energy.

Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s vice-chancellor, warned Sweden’s new prime minister Stefan Löfven last month that there would be “serious consequences” for electricity supplies and jobs if Sweden’s state-owned utility Vattenfall ditched plans to expand two coal mines in the northeast of Germany.

The intervention is a clear sign of the challenges Germany faces as it grapples with an ambitious switch to renewable energy – the so-called Energiewende.

Under the policy, Germany aims to derive 80 per cent of its electricity from clean sources by 2050. As part of that, it is closing down all of its nuclear power stations by 2022.

But it is making up the energy shortfall caused by the nuclear phase-out by generating power from coal – the dirtiest fossil fuel. Last year, German electricity production from lignite or brown coal, a particularly polluting form of the fuel, reached its highest level since 1990.

Ridley delays expansion of terminal in B.C. – by Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – November 24, 2014)

November 24, 2014

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

PRINCE RUPERT, B.C. – A federally owned coal-shipping operation in northern British Columbia is placing its expansion on hold for up to five years, getting only halfway toward its goal to double the terminal’s capacity.

Ridley Terminals Inc., a Crown corporation put up for sale by Ottawa nearly two years ago, has been ramping up its capacity in anticipation of increased coal exports to energy-hungry customers in Asia. Some industry observers estimate Ottawa might have been able to fetch $1-billion had the government sold the operation in early 2013.

But as coal prices spiralled downward over the past couple of years, producers vastly scaled back or cancelled exports. Interest among prospective buyers of Ridley has waned and the terminal’s market value declined. In less than two years, Ridley has gone from scrambling to keep up with surging demand to now having excess capacity – plenty of new equipment but dwindling supplies of coal that arrive in railcars at the Port of Prince Rupert.

During a tour last week, no ships waited to be loaded at the Ridley berth, and some conveyors used to help stockpile coal were halted. Ridley, which loaded its first coal ship in 1984, leases land from the Prince Rupert Port Authority.

Mozambique continues to attract coal miners, despite low market prices – by Keith Campbell (MiningWeekly.com – November 21, 2014)

November 24, 2014

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/home

Two more companies have been granted coal mining concessions in the Tete province of Mozambique, despite the fall in global coal prices which have put the already operating mines in the province under pressure. The new concessions were granted to the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (better known as ENRC, largely based in Kazakhstan, but with head office in London) and to United Arab Emirates (UAE) group ETA Star.

At the concession award function, Mozambique Mineral Resources Minister Esperança Bias acknowledged that the country’s coal sector was going through a difficult time. However, she expressed confidence that the current trend of declining prices was only temporary and would change in the near future, the newspaper O País reported. “Investors continue to believe that Mozambique is a good investment destination,” she affirmed. “We want to encourage the whole mining sector, particularly the investors, to continue to believe that it is a good destination.”

Meanwhile, she noted that the sector will be involved in seeking solutions to increase the value of the coal that is not exported. Developing the domestic use of coal would create a balance between the home and export markets. She urged that the investors undertake their mining operations in a sustainable way which would ensure “a just return for the investor and a just return for the State which offers the resource for exploitation”.

The representatives of the two groups – José Dai of ENRC and Mubarak Hussein of ETA Star – both expressed the view that the efforts of their companies in developing Tete coal resources were praiseworthy given the difficulties posed by the low international coal prices.

Teck to control contaminants from mining operations in B.C.’s Elk Valley (Canadian Press/Huffington Post – November 19, 2014)

November 20, 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/british-columbia/

VICTORIA – A plan to address decades of coal-mining contaminants leeched into the Elk Valley watershed has been approved by the B.C. government.

The water treatment plan by Teck Resources Ltd. would control selenium and nitrate that have been dumped into nearby rivers and streams as the mining giant expanded operations over the years.

The company will construct water diversions and treatment facilities at several of its mine sites, including at Line Creek, Fording River and Elkview Operations, the government said. Environment Minister Mary Polak said Tuesday that the measures will improve water quality.

“This plan represents the next step in the long-term plan to ensure a healthy watershed in the Elk Valley,” she said in a statement. “Many different groups have come together to find solutions.”

In April 2013, the government ordered Teck Resources to stabilize and reverse water-quality concentrations. It cited the presence of several chemicals, including selenium, cadmium, nitrate, sulphate and the formation of calcite in the water.

Kompania Pleads for Polish Utilities to Rescue Coal Mines – by Maciej Martewicz and Maciej Onoszko (Bloomberg News – November 19, 2014)

November 20, 2014

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Kompania Weglowa SA, the European Union’s largest coal producer, faces massive job cuts to survive unless Poland quickens the state-owned industry’s revamp, which may include help from power utilities.

“If we want to quickly heal Kompania, we should shut five mines and fire 15,000 people,” Chief Executive Officer Miroslaw Taras said at an industry summit in Katowice, Poland today. “But if we want to avoid social unrest, we should probably think about somehow combining coal mining with power generation either by means of agreed prices or takeovers of some mines.”

Poland, which relies on coal for 90 percent of its electricity production, is under growing pressure to overhaul the cash-burning industry after its two biggest producers this month failed to sell bonds abroad to finance operations. The government of new Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz yesterday appointed Wojciech Kowalczyk, a former banker, to oversee the mining restructuring.

Coal producers, which employ more than 100,000 people, have struggled to survive as sluggish economic growth cut demand for the fuel and sent prices to a seven-year low. Kompania, which runs 14 mines in the southern industrial region of Silesia, produces about a quarter of the EU’s coal output and half of Poland’s.

INTERVIEW-India to allow foreign firms mine and sell coal – by Krishna N. Das (Reuters India – November 20, 2014)

November 20, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

NEW DELHI, Nov 20 (Reuters) – India will allow locally registered foreign firms to mine and sell coal when commercial mining is permitted as part of the opening up of the nationalised industry after four decades, Coal Secretary Anil Swarup told Reuters.

To end a chronic coal shortage that cripples power plants and curb the country’s imports of the fuel, the Narendra Modi government will also spend about $1 billion by 2019 to buy railway wagons and transport coal from remote mines, Swarup said in an interview on Thursday.

The government last month made provisions for private firms to commercially mine coal but did not set any timeline for when actual digging will start.

The decision will open the door to global giants like Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton and help ramp up output from India’s huge reserves – the world’s fifth biggest.

“Any company registered in India can bid (when a commercial coalfield auction takes place),” Swarup said. “So a foreign company registered in India can also bid, provided they fulfil other conditions.”

Opening up the industry will increase private coal production to about 400 million tonnes by 2019 from less than 50 million tonnes last year, Swarup said.

Tumbler Ridge Residents Fear for Town’s Future – by Jeremy J. Nuttall (The Tyee.ca – November 18, 2014)

November 19, 2014

http://www.thetyee.ca/

‘It’s not nice’ in region that brought in foreign workers.

Two years after politicians rushed to defend a mining company that was hiring workers from China over locals in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., residents are worried about their town’s future after layoffs at two nearby mines.

“It’s not nice,” said Clayton Knowles, who lost his job at Wolverine mine seven months ago. “Every day I’m counting the hours I get to make sure I can pay my mortgage.” As residents fret about their economic futures, local politicians are conspicuously silent.

“The federal government, the provincial government are not going to help this town,” Knowles said. “They haven’t yet, have they?”

A local newspaper recently quoted Tumbler Ridge’s deputy mayor as estimating that the unemployment rate in the town of 2,700 was as high as 70 per cent. And some local residents told The Tyee that people are leaving their homes behind as they flee the desperate economic circumstances of the town.

In April, Tumbler Ridge was walloped with news that Walter Energy’s Wolverine coal mine would be idled due to poor coal prices. Months later, Peace River Coal said it would follow suit at the end of the year, also citing low prices and a need for maintenance.

Twenty-Nine Coal Mining Deaths: Should The Former CEO Go To Prison? – by Ken Silverstein (Forbes Magazine – November 17, 2014)

November 18, 2014

http://www.forbes.com/

During the 2014 Midterm Elections, most candidates for federal and state offices in Appalachia couldn’t get enough of coal — races, in essence, to see who could be the most pro-coal. Now, though, with criminal charges just announced against one of the coal barons, elected officials are running in the opposite direction.

Those living in West Virginia’s coal towns have long known of Don Blankenship, the former chief executive of Massey Energy that is now owned by Alpha Natural Resources ANR -6.9%. To shareholders, he had been a no-nonsense guy, increasing mining production while adding to Massey’s bottom line. To miners and regulators, however, he has been the ultimate hard-ass, caring nothing about the little guy.

Lacking sentimentality is not a crime. But ignoring established mine-safety laws while misleading shareholders about those priorities is illegal. That is what the U.S. District Court for Southern West Virginia is alleging in its four-count indictment against Blankenship, released late last week. If found guilty of all charges, the former CEO could face up to 31 years in prison.

“He could have talked himself into believing that he knew the industry and the risks better than the government. He could also have chosen to close his eyes to the risks and was driven purely by greed. He could also try to justify it by reasoning that if someone dies, then it is simply a function of being in a dangerous business,” says Jane Barrett, professor of law and director of the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Maryland Law School, in an interview.

Coal Rush in India Could Tip Balance on Climate Change – by Gardiner Harris (New York Times – November 17, 2014)

November 18, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/

DHANBAD, India — Decades of strip mining have left this town in the heart of India’s coal fields a fiery moonscape, with mountains of black slag, sulfurous air and sickened residents.

But rather than reclaim these hills or rethink their exploitation, the government is digging deeper in a coal rush that could push the world into irreversible climate change and make India’s cities, already among the world’s most polluted, even more unlivable, scientists say.

“If India goes deeper and deeper into coal, we’re all doomed,” said Veerabhadran Ramanathan, director of the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and one of the world’s top climate scientists. “And no place will suffer more than India.”

India’s coal mining plans may represent the biggest obstacle to a global climate pact to be negotiated at a conference in Paris next year. While the United States and China announced a landmark agreement that includes new targets for carbon emissions, and Europe has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent, India, the world’s third-largest emitter, has shown no appetite for such a pledge.

“India’s development imperatives cannot be sacrificed at the altar of potential climate changes many years in the future,” India’s power minister, Piyush Goyal, said at a recent conference in New Delhi in response to a question. “The West will have to recognize we have the needs of the poor.”

Don Blankenship, Former Massey Energy CEO, Indicted Over 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster – by John Raby (AP/Huffington Post – November 14, 2014)

November 14, 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/green/

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Don Blankenship, the steely-eyed executive once dubbed “The Dark Lord of Coal Country,” on Thursday became the highest-ranking coal official to face federal charges in the nation’s deadliest mine disaster in 40 years.

A federal grand jury indicted the former Massey Energy CEO on numerous counts of conspiracy in the April 2010 underground explosion that killed 29 men at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, West Virginia.

The 43-page indictment said Blankenship “knew that UBB was committing hundreds of safety-law violations every year and that he had the ability to prevent most of the violations that UBB was committing. Yet he fostered and participated in an understanding that perpetuated UBB’s practice of routine safety violations, in order to produce more coal, avoid the costs of following safety laws, and make more money.”

His attorney, William W. Taylor III, said in a statement that Blankenship “is entirely innocent of these charges. He will fight them and he will be acquitted.”

“Don Blankenship has been a tireless advocate for mine safety,” the statement said. “His outspoken criticism of powerful bureaucrats has earned this indictment. He will not yield to their effort to silence him. He will not be intimidated.”