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The Most Dangerous Coal Mine In The World: Mongolia’s Illegal Nalaikh Pits – by Jacopo Dettoni (International Business Times – April 01 2014)

http://www.ibtimes.com/

ULAANBATAAR, Mongolia — Deep inside the earth, the eyes of blackened miners shimmer under spotlights as they hammer endlessly upon rock, tapping the vein of Mongolia’s largest illegal coal mine. The Nalaikh mine, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the capital, Ulaanbaatar, is both a vision from the past and a rogue operation from the present.

Coal dust streaks the miners’ cheeks, their hands, their worn clothes. In many cases, whether they know it or not, their lungs are being ruined by coal and nicotine. They risk their lives every time they go into the pits.

Frequently, theirs is a losing bet. The miners here are part of a booming complex of illegal mining in Mongolia, the seamy underside of an expansion of legal mining in the past several years. Fatal accidents take place at a higher rate here than in the infamously deadly China mines, as private operators seek to maximize profits by skimping on safety gear.

The miners crawl in the darkness for hundreds of meters through narrow, rambling passages before reaching the working face, where the new coal is cut. Dug with shovels and picks, the tunnels have few timber supports — a minimum safety standard in any coal mine, and the walls crumble as carts loaded with coal slide up, pulled from the outside by trucks.

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Glencore Xstrata blocking progress at Donkin coal mine – by Roger Taylor (Halifax Chronicle Herald – March 31, 2014)

http://thechronicleherald.ca/

In hindsight it may have been a mistake for the Nova Scotia government to allow mining giant Xstrata plc to win control of the mothballed Donkin coal mine.

It seemed like a good idea at the time to have a company of the stature of Xstrata, with the know-how and financial backing to get the job done, to take over management of the underground mine.

But now, after several years of waiting, the market for coal has changed and so has the makeup of Xstrata, which was acquired by a major competitor, Glencore, in 2012. It didn’t take long for the new company, Glencore Xstrata plc, to realize the Donkin mine was too small for a corporation of its scale and that the return on investment couldn’t possibly meet its expectations.

So Glencore Xstrata announced it would instead sell its 75 per cent stake. But until a buyer could be found it would lay off the few workers looking after the site and would allow the mine to flood.

Although Glencore considers the Cape Breton project small, its 25 per cent minority partner in the Donkin mine, Morien Resources Corp. of Dartmouth, believes the development of the mine is still a winning proposition.

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Inside ‘big coal country’ as coal-fired energy demand returns – by Brad Quick (CNBC – April 1, 2014)

http://www.cnbc.com/

More U.S. power plants have been burning coal to meet rising energy demand. CNBC’s Brad Quick offers an inside look from the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming, one of America’s largest coal regions. Montana often is known as “big sky country.” But ask any local, and they’ll tell you the phrase “big coal country” is just as fitting.

Along with Wyoming, Montana is home to the Powder River Basin—a region that boasts some of the biggest coal mines in the world. The two states account for 40 percent of all the coal produced in the U.S. So if you thought coal was a fading fuel—upstaged by natural gas and solar panels to power homes and businesses—guess again.

Reports of coal’s demise are greatly exaggerated

The frigid winter that froze much of the country also caused a surge in electricity demand. Natural gas prices soared to their highest level in years. So U.S. power plants trying to balance higher energy demand with rising fuel costs fired up more coal burners to keep consumer energy costs at bay.

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The Mines Have Shut Down. The Miners Haven’t.- by Danny Hakimmarch (New York Times – March 29, 2014)

http://www.nytimes.com/

Down a homemade mine shaft in southwestern Poland, a would-be comedian sang in the faint glowing light. The strains of “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” in rhythm with a pick ax, rose up from eight yards underground. The song stopped.

“A huge chunk of coal has fallen on my finger!” the miner yelled up the shaft. “Now I can’t pick my nose!”

The sky was black and the stars blazed, especially the constellation Orion. In the nearby city of Walbrzych, the bells had just tolled. It was 9 p.m., the temperature was below freezing, the wind bitter. But for many miners here, in a region known as Lower Silesia, work was just beginning.

The practice of digging coal illegally is often called “rathole mining.” It is better known in places like India, or in South Africa, where illegal mining accidents recently killed five men. But it’s also common in Lower Silesia, near the Czech border.

Poland is Europe’s largest producer of hard coal, and both black and brown coal mines flourish in other parts of the country, from abundant mines in Upper Silesia to the north, to the giant open pit mine in Belchatow, in the east.

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Coal Mines Face ‘Crunch Time’ as ARMS Mulls Closing Mine – by Jesse Riseborough (Bloomberg News – March 28, 2014)

http://www.businessweek.com/

A slump in coal prices to a four-year low means the biggest producers are facing tough decisions to shutter unprofitable mines, Asia Resource Minerals Plc (ARMS) Chief Executive Officer Nick von Schirnding said.

His company, Indonesia’s fifth-biggest exporter of the power-station fuel, is considering closing its largest pit where almost half its production last year was sourced. The world’s biggest exporters, Glencore Xstrata Plc, Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd., have either halted coal operations or shelved expansion plans amid the price decline.

“This is crunch time for our business and the coal industry,” Von Schirnding said today. “Our most challenged pit is Lati, and that we are looking at very, very carefully. Clearly if thermal-coal prices continue at this level for a significant time, we are, as others are, going to be very challenged.”

Prices last week dropped to about $73 a metric ton, the lowest since November 2009, amid a supply glut that’s projected by UBS AG to be the equivalent of 4 percent of annual seaborne trade this year. Asia Resource Minerals today reported a wider full-year underlying loss of $173 million after selling coal for 16 percent less than in 2012.

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Illinois Residents File Intent to Sue for Federal Takeover of Rogue Coal Mining Agencies – by Jeff Biggers (Huffington Post – March 25, 2014)

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/

What happens when government regulators fail to uphold coal mining laws, in a state of constant violations?

No one knows better than residents in Illinois: Today marks the March 25th anniversary of the tragic Centralia, Illinois coal disaster, when government inaction on a violation-ridden coal mine led to an explosion that needlessly took the lives of 111 miners.

Nor does anyone know better than residents in Clinton County, Illinois, where toxic coal slurry from a nearby mine contaminated the watersheds of unwitting farmers more than a decade ago.

Now, with state mining regulatory agencies mired in scandal, violations and public outcry, and on the heels of the West Virginia and North Carolina coal ash and slurry disasters, Illinois residents embroiled in one of the nation’s most notorious coal slurry cases are appealing for the federal government to revoke approval of the state’s rogue coal mining agencies and allow citizens to lawfully seek environmental compliance in the courts.

Citing a number of violations of the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, the Citizens Opposing Pollution filed a 60-day intent to sue notice on March 17th with the Department of the Interior, unless it takes over the state’s abysmal enforcement program.

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COLUMN-Cheaper Asian LNG depends on coal, Japan nuclear – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.K. – March 25, 2014)

http://uk.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Asian spot liquefied natural gas prices have started their seasonal downturn after the winter peak, but how far they will fall depends on whether coal remains cheap and if Japan restarts some nuclear capacity.

LNG for May delivery was around $16.50 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), down from levels above $20 per mmBtu last month, reached as utilities re-stocked after peak winter demand. Last year, spot LNG LNG-AS fell 28 percent from the peak of $19.67 per mmBtu on Feb. 18 to a low of $14.13 on May 3.

Prices peaked at $20.50 per mmBtu on Feb. 7 this year, and a drop of a similar magnitude would see them fall to about $14.76 around May. However, much will depend on whether Japan does restart some nuclear generation, and whether it and China are willing to use cheaper coal despite the higher pollution.

None of Japan’s reactors, which used to supply about 20 percent of the nation’s electricity, are currently online, although two are now on a shortlist for a final round of safety checks.

Public scepticism remains high three years after the earthquake and tsunami that caused the destruction of the Fukushima plant, which led to the idling of nuclear generation.

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History of Ukrainian Mining City of Donetsk [Coal-rich Donets/Donbas Basin]

This article is from: http://www.citylife.donetsk.ua/main/history

The year 1869 is traditionally referred to as the date of founding Donetsk (former Hughsofka). In contrast to many other large cities which were born of the advantages provided by geography and transportation, Donetsk sprang up and developed from a mining and metallurgical industry thanks to rich stores of minerals. In the upper regions of Kalmius river, where the city is located, there were large deposits of coal, and around the settlement of Alexandrovka, founded in 1779, the first coal mines appeared. The residents of other nearby settlements Semyonovka, Lyubimovka (Zakop), Nikolaevka, Ekaterinovka, Grigorievka (Georgievka), and Larinka also provided the labour force to work in the mines.

In 1866 Russian engineer A. Mevius proved the necessity of building iron works on the right bank of Kalmius, not far from Alexandrovka settlement. This site had everything that was necessary; in upper Kalmius there was coal; not far away in Karakuba (today the city of Komsomolsk, in Starobeshevskiy Region) there was iron ore; in the nearby village Elenovka there was lime; and right at hand was river water.

The Tsarist government was unable to deal properly with the land riches. And having estimated all possibilities for making huge profits on cheap coal by cheap labour, foreign concessionaires poured into Donbass. One of them was the English technician-metallurgist John James Hughes, a manager of a small plant near London. Having bought or leased the land at profitable terms, he made an agreement with the Committee of Russian Ministers to establish Novorossiysk Coal, Iron and Railway Society, and the Society of the Railway branch of Kharkov-Azov line.

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Miners target funds to spread the message on coal – by Annabel Hepworth (The Australian – March 24, 2014)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business

MINING giants are targeting Australia’s most influential superannuation funds to convince them that coal is here to stay in a dramatic escalation of a strike against environmentalists campaigning for the divestment of fossil fuel assets.

The Australian can reveal that the Minerals Council of Australia — whose members include BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Glencore — has been pitching the case for coal to more than 1000 powerbrokers at big investors.

As well as industry funds including Australian Super and Uni Super, the campaign has targeted investment managers Colonial First State, investment bank Goldman Sachs and the Australian arm of the world’s biggest asset manager BlackRock, as well as ratings agencies.

The move is an escalation of the industry’s plans to take on the fossil fuel divestment campaign, where green groups are pushing investors to dump their holdings in coal companies. The approach is modelled heavily on the South African divestment campaign against apartheid. The Greens have been demanding that the $96.6 billion Future Fund get out of coal.

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Can Coal Ever Be Clean? – by Michelle Nijhuis (National Geographic – April 2014)

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/

It’s the dirtiest of fossil fuels. We burn eight billion tons of it a year, with growing consequences.The world must face the question.

Coal provides 40 percent of the world’s electricity. It produces 39 percent of global CO₂ emissions. It kills thousands a year in mines, many more with polluted air.

Environmentalists say that clean coal is a myth. Of course it is: Just look at West Virginia, where whole Appalachian peaks have been knocked into valleys to get at the coal underneath and streams run orange with acidic water. Or look at downtown Beijing, where the air these days is often thicker than in an airport smoking lounge. Air pollution in China, much of it from burning coal, is blamed for more than a million premature deaths a year. That’s on top of the thousands who die in mining accidents, in China and elsewhere.

These problems aren’t new. In the late 17th century, when coal from Wales and Northumberland was lighting the first fires of the industrial revolution in Britain, the English writer John Evelyn was already complaining about the “stink and darknesse” of the smoke that wreathed London.Three centuries later, in December 1952, a thick layer of coal-laden smog descended on London and lingered for a long weekend, provoking an epidemic of respiratory ailments that killed as many as 12,000 people in the ensuing months.

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Agencies Dodge Responsibility for Human Cost of Mountaintop-Removal Coal Mining – by Mary Anne Hitt (Huffington Post – March 14, 2014)

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/

Mary Anne Hitt is director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign.

This week, we got some disappointing news – a judge ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers isn’t responsible for considering the health effects of coal pollution when it issues permits to fill valleys with rubble from mountaintop-removal coal mines. As Appalachian residents continue to suffer every year from well-documented health problems linked to mountaintop removal, this decision highlights a deadly loophole that requires long-overdue action from the White House and Congress.

Responsibility is a tricky thing. In our daily lives we work to be conscientious of our bills, our taxes, our family lives and a myriad of other duties that come up every day. But what happens when say, no one in the house takes responsibility for the dirty dishes? They keep piling up and things get pretty nasty.

Now, instead of dishes, think about what happens when no one chooses to take responsibility for the terrible effects coal pollution has on public health. From soot and smog to asthma, cancer and heart attacks, things go from nasty to life-threatening.

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Why miners aren’t panicking about the latest commodity drop – Peter Koven (National Post – March 13, 2014)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

While steep declines in copper, iron ore and coking coal prices have spooked investors, they are not severe enough to disrupt the mining sector at this stage.

The vast majority of projects can generate decent margins at these price levels, according to experts. Though in the case of coal, there has been enough of a drop to make high-cost producers nervous.

Prices for all three commodities have been under pressure throughout 2014, but they plummeted over the last several days due to economic concerns out of China. Manufacturing activity has been weaker than expected, and a bond default by a solar company raised fears of tighter credit conditions. That hit the copper market in particular, as many Chinese companies use the red metal as collateral to raise money.

Chinese steel mills are also being threatened as the government tightens environmental standards. That is putting pressure on coal and iron ore.

Copper has sunk to near a four-year-low, falling below the psychological barrier of US$3.00 a pound.

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In Ukraine’s coal-fired industrial east, some see a better past, and future, as part of Russia – by John-Thor Bahlburg (Associated Press/Montreal Gazette – March 12, 2014)

http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html

LUHANSK, Ukraine – Lidia Gany had some tea and bread, all she can afford these days for most meals, put on her duffel coat with the fake purple fur collar, and came down to the main square of this down-at-the-heels industrial city at Ukraine’s eastern edge to join fellow ethnic Russians in urging Moscow to send troops across the border and protect them.

“Only Russia can save us,” said the 74-year-old pensioner, crossing herself.

Since Russian troops rolled into Crimea, and lawmakers there scheduled a referendum for Sunday on whether to join Russia, the world’s attention has focused on the fate of the lush peninsula that juts into the Black Sea. But here in Ukraine’s coal-fired industrial east, where huge numbers of Russians have lived for more than two centuries, a potent mix of economic depression, ethnic solidarity and nostalgia for the certainties of the Soviet past have many demanding the right to become part of Russia as well.

“I’m for living in one country, with no borders, like we used to. Like the fingers on one hand,” said 60-year-old Lyudmila Zhuravlyova, who signed a petition asking for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military invention to stop “political persecution and physical annihilation of the Russian-speaking and Orthodox population.”

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In Europe, Dirty Coal Makes a Comeback – by Stefan Nicola and Ladka Bauerova (Bloomberg News – February 28, 2014)

http://www.businessweek.com/

From the baroque castle where Beethoven premièred his Eroica symphony two centuries ago, Vladimír Buřt gazes down on giant excavators that eat into the ground around the clock, loading brown coal onto conveyor belts that fill waiting railroad cars. “There used to be a lake where we’d go swimming every day,” says Buřt, the deputy mayor of Horní Jiřetín, a 750-year-old village in the Czech Republic that could be destroyed if the coal mine is allowed to expand. “The Communists started this devastation, and this government wants to finish it.”

Horní Jiřetín and other small villages along Europe’s mining belt may soon succumb to the continent’s quest for cheaper electricity. Alarmed that energy prices in Europe are about double what they are in the U.S., governments in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany are green-lighting the expansion of mines that produce lignite, a moist, brown coal used to fuel power plants.

While lignite is plentiful and cheap, it packs less energy and releases more greenhouse gases than hard coal. The dirty coal’s resurgence runs counter to European Union efforts to limit emissions and promote cleaner energy. “It’s absurd,” says Petra Roesch, mayor of Proschim, a 700-year-old German village that could be entirely leveled if authorities in the state of Brandenburg allow the expansion of a lignite mine owned by the Vattenfall power utility. “Germany wants to transition toward renewable energy, and we’re being deprived of our land.”

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COLUMN-Asia utilities in dicey bet on cheap, low-rank Indonesia coal – by Clyde Russell (Reuters India – February 27, 2014)

http://in.reuters.com/

Clyde Russell is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own.

SINGAPORE, Feb 27 (Reuters) – Many power utilities in Asia appear to be making what seems like an increasingly risky bet: that poorer quality coal from Indonesia will remain cheap and plentiful.

Generators from India to Southeast Asia and China are building or planning new coal-fired units designed to run on low-rank, sub-bituminous coal from Indonesia. Such coal has been growing in supply and currently trades at a discount of 24 percent to higher quality bituminous coal from rival supplier Australia.

But two factors are calling into the question the wisdom of building long-term projects reliant on low-rank Indonesian coal.

The first is that the Indonesian government is planning new rules and taxes designed to increase its revenue from coal mining, and the authorities appear not to mind if the result of these policies is a sharp reduction in exports.

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