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Glencore Said to Study Rio Australia Coal-Assets Combination – by Jesse Riseborough (Bloomberg News – June 11, 2013)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Glencore Xstrata Plc (GLEN), the biggest exporter of power station coal, is studying a plan to combine some of its Australian coal operations with mines run by Rio Tinto Group, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Glencore and Rio own some of the largest thermal coal mines in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales and have held initial talks on ways to share mines and infrastructure to cut costs, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are confidential. There is no certainty an agreement will be reached, one of the people said.

Slumping Chinese imports of the fuel and rising output in Indonesia are suppressing demand for Australian coal, prompting producers to fire workers to reduce costs. Baar, Switzerland-based Glencore Xstrata has interests in about 35 coal mines in Colombia, Africa and Australia, accounting for about 10 percent of global seaborne supplies of the fuel.

Spokesmen for Glencore and Rio Tinto declined to comment.

“A sharing of infrastructure and some combination of operations would likely have significant merit given coal earnings are highly sensitive to any reduction in the unit cost base,” Ash Lazenby, an analyst at Liberum Capital Ltd. in London, said today.

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Wyoming govenor to talk coal exports on trip to Canada – by Bob Moen (Associated Press/Seattle Times – June 11, 2013)

http://seattletimes.com/html/home/index.html

Looking for ways to export coal mined in Wyoming, Gov. Matt Mead said he will tour port facilities in British Columbia as part of a weeklong trade trip to Canada.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Looking for ways to export coal mined in Wyoming, Gov. Matt Mead said he will tour port facilities in British Columbia as part of a weeklong trade trip to Canada.

Mead will meet with provincial leaders and talk to coal and rail representatives during the visit beginning on Wednesday.

Wyoming is the nation’s leading coal-producing state, but state officials are concerned about falling domestic demand as a result of global warming concerns and new federal regulations on coal-burning power plants.

Some see the need for more power generation by growing Asian economies as an ideal market for U.S. coal producers. But sending coal overseas requires West Coast ports.

Mining companies want to ship coal through ports in Oregon and Washington. However, opponents of coal trains in that region have raised concerns about dust, congestion and climate change.

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PRESS RELEASE: China: Wood Mackenzie Says Thermal Coal Demand Will Reach Nearly 7btpa by 2030

http://www.woodmacresearch.com/

SINGAPORE/EDINBURGH/HOUSTON, 4th June 2013 – Wood Mackenzie’s report titled ‘China: The Illusion of Peak Coal’ says that despite efforts to limit coal consumption and seek alternative fuel options, China’s strong appetite for thermal coal will lead to a doubling of demand by 2030. China’s demand will grow to approximately seven billion tonnes per annum (btpa) of thermal coal which is contrary to speculation that China’s thermal coal demand may be reaching a peak in the next decade.

“It is very unlikely that demand for thermal coal in China will peak before 2030,” states Mr. William Durbin, Wood Mackenzie’s Beijing-based President of Global Markets. “Why? Because China’s aggressive investment program for nuclear, natural gas and renewables capacity is centred in the coastal region while coal-fired capacity grows in the central and western provinces. Indeed, there are also a plethora of coal-intensive conversion projects being built or planned that are significantly adding to demand.”

“Wood Mackenzie’s analysis already takes into account a rapid improvement in energy efficiency the likes of which have not been seen. We expect power demand per unit of GDP to fall by half in just 17 years, an extraordinary achievement for an economy experiencing such sustained growth. In spite of this efficiency improvement, power demand is still set to nearly triple to 15,000 Terawatt hours (TWh) by 2030. Indeed, if expected efficiency improvements do not materialise, then in the absence of alternatives, coal demand could increase further.”

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Cape Breton mines attract Chilean delegation – CBC News Nova Scotia (June 4, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/ns/

Chilean delegation interested in Cape Breton’s mining industry and Tar Ponds cleanup

A six-member delegation from Chile is coming to Cape Breton to learn more about managing mine closures and tackling environmental cleanups.

The Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation — a federal Crown corporation that fosters economic development — organized the visit by the delegation, which includes engineers from Chile’s mining and environmental companies and the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service.

Darlene Sponagle, the trade and investment officer for the Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation, said there is a need in South American countries for mine closure plans and there’s much they can learn.

“How we’ve all worked together to accomplish these projects here on Cape Breton Island, specifically around community engagement, stake holder engagement, First Nations engagement, as well as taking a look at some of the practices that were developed here between government and the private sector,” she said. Sponagle said the agenda is packed.

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The fastest-growing coal-producing region in the USA – by John Chadwick (Publisher/International Mining – June 2013)

http://www.im-mining.com/

While coal in the USA is generally a story of falling output, the Illinois Basin – which covers southern Illinois, Indiana and west Kentucky – is bucking that trend. Production across the nation fell 7% in 2012, compared with 2011, with the biggest falls in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin (PRB), and Central Appalachia; but Illinois Basin output was up 10%.

It is this coal’s high sulphur content that resulted in it being largely ignored over recent years, in favour of coal that is more expensive to mine in fields to the east.

However, with power generators equipping facilities with scrubbers that sulphur content is no longer a problem. And producers can save money from Illinois Basin coal that costs something like half that of Central Appalachia to produce.

Characterised by high BTU, mid-range sulphur, moderate ash and low moisture content coal, 2012 output declined an estimated 63.5 Mt, led by an 18% decrease in Central Appalachia. PRB production declined 8%, while the Illinois Basin
rose 11%.

According to the USGS, the area of coalbearing rocks in the Illinois Basin comprises 95,312 km2 in Illinois, 16,835 km2 in southwest Indiana, and 16,576 km2 in western Kentucky.

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Plan to import miners stirred a wave of anger – by James Keller (Canadian Press/Vancouver Sun – June 1, 2013)

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

One resident of an unnamed B.C. community claimed to personally know 40 unemployed miners who would be happy to work at a proposed coal mine in the province’s northeast, which was instead slated to temporarily employ Chinese workers. Another lamented the mine’s hiring plan as just the latest example of Canadian resources leaving this country.

And yet another bluntly asked: “Are you trying to lose the next election?” As debate swirled about Chinese owned HD Mining’s plan to use temporary foreign workers at its proposed underground coal mine – prompting several government investigations and a lawsuit by a pair of unions – the province was flooded with angry letters from the public.

Four months of those letters, obtained through freedom of information laws, reveal deep anger about the province’s public support for the project and little sympathy for politicians and company officials who insisted there was not a single Canadian qualified to work at the mine.

The dozens of emails and typewritten letters on the subject were sent to the government between October and January. All oppose the importing of Chinese workers, with many writers telling the government they simply do not believe the assertion there was no way to train and hire workers from the province.

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More ‘tough love’ in store at BHP – by Brian Robins (Sydney Morning Herald – May 30, 2013)

http://www.smh.com.au/

BHP Billiton has flagged its coal division is in for more ”tough love” as it puts underperforming mines on the block and winds back capital spending against the backdrop of a tough global market which is not expected to turn up any time soon.

BHP has forced suppliers to renegotiate contracts following a collapse in earnings of the division, which is barely breaking even following a sustained profit slide over the past few years.

Believed to be on the block is the Gregory coking coal mine in Queensland, which was partly shut down last year due to low coal prices. It has also shut the Norwich Park mine nearby as it moves to ”simplify” its portfolio.

BHP is also negotiating with the Navajo Nation over the sale of its mine in New Mexico, US, which, according to reports, could raise an estimated $US85 million.

”We will selectively pursue asset divestment opportunities with a firm focus on value,” BHP told analysts on Wednesday. ”Assets must earn their right to remain in the portfolio.”

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Controversy over Chinese miners in B.C. prompts flood of angry letters – by James Keller (Canadian Press/CTV News – May 31, 2013)

http://www.ctvnews.ca/

VANCOUVER — One resident of an unnamed British Columbia community claimed to personally know 40 unemployed miners who would be more than happy to work at a proposed coal mine in the province’s northeast that was instead slated to employ temporary Chinese workers.

Another lamented the mine’s hiring plan as just the latest example of Canadian resources leaving this country.
And yet another bluntly asked: “Are you trying to lose the next election?”

As a public debate swirled about Chinese-owned HD Mining’s plan to use temporary foreign workers at its proposed underground coal mine — prompting multiple government investigations and a lawsuit by a pair of unions — the province was flooded with angry letters from the public.

Four months of those letters, obtained through freedom of information laws, reveal deep anger about the province’s public support for the project and little sympathy for politicians and company officials who insisted there was not a single Canadian qualified to work at the mine. The dozens of emails and typewritten letters sent to the government on the subject between October and January stretch on for more than 70 pages.

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Editorial: HD on its feet after a tumble – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – May 29, 2013)

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry. Editor John Cumming MSc (Geol) is one of the country’s most well respected mining journalists. jcumming@northernminer.com

Another chapter closed in the HD Mining International saga, with HD celebrating a win in the federal courts against two B.C. unions who had tried to thwart the junior developer’s efforts to import Chinese workers to take a bulk sample at its Murray River underground coal mine project, located southeast of Tumbler Ridge in northeastern B.C.

Once operating, the $300-million Murray River project would produce 6 million tonnes of metallurgical coal per year over 30 years, creating about 600 direct and 700 indirect jobs. HD Mining has already spent $50 million on the project.

The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 115, and the Construction and Specialized Workers’ Union, Local 1611, had banded together to challenge the federal decision that authorized the temporary use of 201 foreign workers, but the challenge was dismissed on May 21 by the Federal Court of Canada. While the applicants do not represent any workers of HD, they were granted public interest standing and permitted to launch their challenge because they represent mining workers in B.C.

In his decision, Justice Russel Zinn noted that it was the first time a positive decision made under the federal Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) had ever been challenged, and that it “made for a hard-fought application.”

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Questions Remain in HD Mining Case – by Jeremy J. Nuttall (The Tyee – May 24, 2013)

http://thetyee.ca/

Key evidence was struck from the record in federal court, say unions. Earlier this week, a federal court justice dismissed an attempt by two British Columbia unions to have temporary foreign worker permits for 201 miners revoked.

The Construction and Specialized Workers Union and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 115 launched their case after it came to light the company, HD Mining, had advertised mining positions listing Mandarin as a job requirement.

The unions contended the language requirement was meant to exclude Canadians so the company could bring workers from China and legally pay them 15 per cent less than market wages at its Murray River project near Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

After a months-long court battle Judge Russel Zinn ruled Tuesday HD Mining filed its applications properly according to the rules that were in place at the time.

But the unions said they lost because Zinn struck from the record key evidence that would have helped their case and, in their view, showed the company misrepresented its mining plans in the form of a notice of work application.

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Australia coal firms dig in for years of mine closures, job cuts – by Rebekah Kebede (Reuters U.K. – May 24, 2013)

http://uk.reuters.com/

PERTH, May 24 (Reuters) – Australian coal miners are steeling themselves for years of production cuts, job reductions and asset sales as swelling shipments from international rivals lower hopes of a recovery in prices for coal.

Prices have slumped around 30 percent since their peak two years ago as coal flooded global markets, especially from the United States where cheap gas has cut domestic demand and led to a nearly 50 percent jump in thermal coal exports last year. Even robust Chinese and Indian demand growth is failing to soak up the plentiful supply.

To boost their thinning margins, miners in Australia such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Glencore Xstrata and Peabody have trimmed output and laid off thousands. Clinging to barely profitable operations, coal producers now face the prospect of further cost-cutting, which they fear could benefit rivals when the market recovers.

“Everyone is waiting to see who blinks first,” said Tom Sartor, an analyst with Morgans Stockbroking in Brisbane. “You don’t want to be the one curtailing production knowing that it’s going to benefit your competitor.” Australia’s coal industry has become a victim of its own success. In its rush to meet growing Chinese demand, producers churned out more and more coal, and miners are now stuck with more than they can sell.

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B.C. mining company justified in bringing in Chinese workers, Federal Court rules – by Tobi Cohen (Vancouver Sun – May 22, 2013)

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

OTTAWA — The government was justified in issuing a positive labour market opinion that allowed a British Columbia mining company to hire 201 temporary foreign workers from China, the Federal Court ruled Tuesday.

The decision comes after two unions challenged the government and the companies involved, arguing Canadians are available to do the jobs required and that it was not necessary to look outside the country for foreign labour.

The incident touched off a massive debate over Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program, with the government promising, and eventually delivering on, a number of changes to protect Canadian jobs.

While the Construction and Specialized Workers’ Union and the International Union of Operating Engineers ultimately lost their court case, their lawyer, Lorne Waldman, said it’s far from a total defeat.

“I’m disappointed that the courts opted to uphold the decision, but having said that, I think the importance of the case goes far beyond this decision,” he said. “I think this case was an extremely important one and was successful because it ultimately exposed some of major shortcomings in the labour market opinion process and forced the government to make changes.”

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Greenpeace activists board Australian coal ship in reef protest – by Thuy Ong (Reuters U.K. – April 24, 2013)

http://uk.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Six Greenpeace activists boarded a coal ship bound for South Korea near Australia’s Great Barrier Reef on Wednesday, protesting against the expansion of the rich Australian coal industry and its impact on the World Heritage site.

Environmentalists say the Great Barrier Reef, a popular tourist site worth about A$6 billion (4 billion pounds) a year to the Australia economy, is threatened by dredging, sedimentation and coal port and shipping development.

UNESCO will decide in June whether the reef should be listed as a World Heritage Site in danger. The ship MV Meister was carrying thermal coal from Abbot Point in northern Queensland state, a port that falls within the Great Barrier Reef heritage area, and was still in Australian waters in the Coral Sea when it was boarded en route to Donghae in South Korea.

“They have established a peaceful occupation of the ship,” said Georgina Woods, a climate campaigner on board Greenpeace’s flagship, the Rainbow Warrior.

Activists launched inflatable boats from the Rainbow Warrior and boarded the coal vessel early on Wednesday. A letter was handed to the captain of the ship detailing their reasons for the occupation.

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COLUMN-Asia’s coal appetite still defying forecasts for drop – by Clyde Russell (Reuters India – April 23, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, April 23 (Reuters) – Asia’s coal markets are starting to resemble Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett’s absurdist play where the main characters wait in vain for something that doesn’t happen.

In coal’s case, the market is expecting demand, and by extension, prices, to drop amid anticipated slower economic growth in the region and rising electricity generation from alternative sources.

The problem is that so far coal imports by the big three Asian consumers, China, Japan and South Korea, are increasing, defying forecasts for the past several months of an imminent slowdown.

It’s not only that overall coal imports are gaining, it’s also that some suppliers are gaining market share, most oddly Australia, which is one of the highest-cost producers in the region. China’s coal imports jumped 20.2 percent in March from a year earlier to 20.52 million tonnes, and at 63.796 million tonnes are up 27.3 percent in the first quarter from the same period in 2012.

Japan’s imports were 15.821 million tonnes in March, an annual gain of 5.8 percent and the fiscal year that ended in March saw imports total 106.29 million tonnes, a record high and up 4.5 percent on the prior fiscal year.

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Booming coal demand overwhelming green energy efforts: IEA – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – April 18, 2013)

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.

OTTAWA — ising demand for coal-fired power in Asia is driving a global boom for the much-maligned fossil fuel, raising concerns about the world’s ability to reduce emissions that cause climate change.

Even as North Americans have begun to reduce their coal consumption, global demand for coal-fired electricity jumped by 45 per cent between 2000 and 2010, and is expected to climb another 17 per cent by 2017, the International Energy Agency said in a report released Wednesday.

Coal producers in the United States and Canada are clearly benefiting from the trend, boosting Asian exports to offset lower domestic sales, with the resulting boom at West Coast export facilities such as Vancouver’s Westshore Terminals.

China alone added 55 gigawatts of coal-fired electricity capacity in 2011 and the country now represents 46 per cent of global coal demand, with significant new capacity planned.

The Paris-based IEA, which advises the developed world on energy policy, warned that the growing use of coal to generate electricity in rapidly growing emerging markets is undermining efforts to rein in greenhouse gas emissions and keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius.

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