Coal – Page 76 – Republic of Mining

After Jharkhand toll, 2016 one of deadliest years for mine workers – by Anil Sasi (Indian Express – January 3, 2017)

January 5, 2017January 4, 2017

Eastern Coalfields, where the latest accident has taken place, is a subsidiary of State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL), the world’s largest coal miner.

Thursday night’s mine collapse at Eastern Coalfields Ltd’s Lal Matia coal mine in Jharkhand rounds up one of the deadliest years for those toiling deep in the bowels of the earth.

The 17 mine worker deaths reported till January 1 sharply push up the mining fatality count for this year, which stood at 65 across both coal and non-coal mines during just the first six months of this year, for which latest data is available — translating into a fatality every three days. More than a dozen workers remain trapped.

In a sector whose safety record is far from inspiring, at least 122 people more were documented to have met with a serious accident during this period, which translates into a serious accident every one and a half days. With a fatal accident every three days, mining is arguably the most dangerous profession in India, alongside ship-breaking.

Tumbler Ridge to ring in new year with return of mining jobs – by Andrew Kurjata (CBC News B.C. – December 29, 2016)

January 4, 2017

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/

Second coal mine restarting prompts hiring of 220 more people

Ami Strang was working as a lab technician at the Wolverine coal mine in Tumbler Ridge when it was shut down in April 2014. “I moved back in with my parents, I put all my stuff back in storage,” she said. She later found work in Fort McMurray, but it involved being away from home for long stretches of time.

“Luckily for me I’m single and don’t have any kids,” she said. “I know a lot of families here whose dads are gone to camp and aren’t home very often. So it was very hard on the community.”

Strang was one of more than 700 Tumbler Ridge residents to lose their jobs in 2014 and 2015 as dropping demand for coal led to a series of mine closures in the community of just under 3,000 people. “We went to work one day and found out we weren’t working,” Strang recalled. “It was pretty rough.”

Black Lung, Incurable and Fatal, Stalks Coal Miners Anew – Editorial (New York Times – December 24, 2016)

January 4, 2017

http://www.nytimes.com/

Appalachian health officials report a shocking rise in cases of black lung — the deadly coal-mining disease thought to have been reined in by a landmark federal law passed in 1969.

Young miners are proving particularly vulnerable because the thinner coal seams now being worked in Appalachia leave them vulnerable to a more volatile black lung strain rooted in silica dust, according to an investigative report by National Public Radio.

The emergence of a new generation of miners gasping for their lives should give President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to revive the industry, reason to reflect on a safer course for the very workers he claimed to prize as a candidate. There is no known cure for black lung, a wearying disease responsible for 78,000 deaths since 1968.

Challenge 2017: What’s next for forgotten coal towns like Alberta’s Forestburg as plug pulled on industry – by Claudia Cattaneo (Financial Post – December 24, 2016)

January 3, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

For a village of 831 on the gentle plains of East Central Alberta, Forestburg is shouldering a disproportionate cost of Alberta’s — and Canada’s — greenhouse gas reduction ambitions.

Coal has been Forestburg’s lifeblood for a century and been central to the village’s two major economic transitions. The first brought unprecedented prosperity when the coal industry arrived in the mid-1950s. The second, unfolding today, could take it all away as governments phase coal power out by 2030 to transition to greener energy.

The powers in Edmonton and Ottawa may think 13 years is a long time to build new industry, but in Forestburg, located 300 kilometres northeast of Calgary, the blows have already started, and they’ve been harsh.

Coal Traders See End of Price Rally as China Ramps Up Output – by Ladka Mortkowitz Bauerova (Bloomberg News – December 21, 2016)

December 22, 2016

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Coal’s recovery was one of the biggest surprises in commodities this year, but it’s all poised to end as output rises from China, producer of half the world’s supply.

After half a decade of declines, European prices rebounded more than 80 percent as China, also the world’s biggest consumer of the fuel, boosted imports. Benchmark month-ahead contracts will fall by more than 25 percent by the end of next year, according to the median in a Bloomberg survey of six analysts and traders.

Just as Chinese policy limiting mining days kick-started the rally, a gradual boost in domestic output during autumn will accelerate a slide, according to analysts. Once seasonal winter demand in the northern hemisphere is over, China will need less imports at the same time as abundant output by other producers will keep a lid on prices from Australia to Antwerp.

Commodity forecasting is a guessing game on China, Trump, OPEC – by Clyde Russell (Daily Mail/Reuters – December 21, 2016)

December 21, 2016

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Dec 21 (Reuters) – It’s that time of year when crystal balls get taken out and polished up, but forecasting commodity markets for 2017 is less certain than usual given the unpredictability of the three main likely drivers.

After a largely stellar year in 2016, the outlook for major commodities is likely to come down to the actions of Donald Trump, the Chinese government and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Note the word “actions” in the above paragraph, as what these three players actually do will ultimately have a far larger bearing than what they say they are going to do. Take China for example. This year saw most analysts surprised by the strength of both China’s coal and iron ore imports, which led to rallies in the prices of both commodities.

Short View: Trump’s coal hard truths – by Alan Livsey (Financial Times – December 21, 2016)

December 21, 2016

https://www.ft.com/

Donald Trump’s holiday gift season actually starts in January, the 20th to be exact. From then he must deliver on all the promises he made in his presidential campaign over the past year or so.

One of those promises was to hand out sacks of coal, not to the bad kids, but ideally to every American. Get everyone using more coal: stop this fad for renewable energy, and keep the Environmental Protection Agency in check over clean-air regulations that reduce demand for coal.

Produce more coal and the miners in states such as West Virginia can get their jobs back, the thinking goes. That state has suffered the brunt of job cuts in that sector.

Obama Sets Up Water Clash With Mining Rule Trump Opposes – by Ari Natter (Bloomberg News – December 19, 2016)

December 19, 2016

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The Obama administration issued new regulations to protect streams and groundwater from coal mining, a measure that’s targeted for repeal by congressional Republicans.

The industry says the U.S. Interior Department’s so-called stream protection rule will strand billions of dollars worth of coal in the ground. Even before it was issued Monday, President-elect Donald Trump had vowed to rescind it, calling it “excessive.”

The Interior Department says the rule, which updates 33-year-old regulations, will protect 6,000 miles of streams and 52,000 acres of forests primarily in Appalachia. The rule will end practices that permanently pollute streams and drinking water, requiring companies to restore streams once their mining work is complete and to monitor water quality.

Advanced Black Lung Cases Surge In Appalachia – by Howard Berkes (National Public Radio – December 15, 2016)

December 19, 2016

http://www.npr.org/

Across Appalachia, coal miners are suffering from the most serious form of the deadly mining disease black lung in numbers more than 10 times what federal regulators report, an NPR investigation has found.

The government, through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, reported 99 cases of “complicated” black lung, or progressive massive fibrosis, throughout the country the last five years.

But NPR obtained data from 11 black lung clinics in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, which reported a total of 962 cases so far this decade. The true number is probably even higher, because some clinics had incomplete records and others declined to provide data.

Things beginning to look up for Brazilian miner in Mozambique – by Keith Campbell (MiningWeekly.com – December 15, 2016)

December 15, 2016

http://www.miningweekly.com/

In a recent presentation to the NYSE, Brazilian major mining group Vale reported on progress at its Mozambique operations. These comprise the Moatize coal mine and the Nacala Logistics Corridor. Moatize is primarily a metallurgical, or coking, coal mine, while the Nacala Logistics Corridor is composed of new and refurbished railway lines linking Moatize (and the city of Tete) to the port of Nacala, via Malawi, as well as a coal terminal in that port.

Overall, the group’s Mozambique operations saw their costs and expenses, net of depreciation, fall by 14% during the first nine months of this year, compared with the first nine months of last year. Their adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increased by more 30%, from minus $366-million to minus $247-million over the same periods.

Production Up Again, during the first nine months of this year, Moatize’s production was up 4%, compared with the same period last year.

Editorial: Canadian government moves to quash thermal coal miners – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – December 13, 2016)

December 14, 2016

http://www.northernminer.com/

In November the Canadian government announced sweeping plans to phase out coal-fired power generation across Canada by 2030. Coal miners and electricity consumers across Canada can only be left wondering whether the same Liberal party deep-thinkers that brought economic havoc and skyrocketing electricity rates to Ontario will do the same thing to the rest of Canada, and particularly to the coal-reliant Western provinces.

The federal government’s coal-power phase-out announcement comes on the heels of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s separate proposed carbon tax that would cost $10 per tonne in 2018 and rise $10 per tonne each year to $50 per tonne by 2022 — a plan that has been bitterly opposed by Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall.

(According to pollster Angus Reid, energy realist Wall has by far the highest approval rating among Canada’s premiers at 58%, while Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, who has presided over the implementation of the province’s disastrous Green Energy Act, has an approval rating of only 16% — or 8 points lower than George W. Bush at his nadir.)

Nippon Steel agrees with Glencore, Teck on 43 percent rise in first quarter coking coal – by Yuka Obayashi (Reuters U.S. – December 13, 2016)

December 13, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

TOKYO – Japan’s biggest steelmaker Nippon Steel said on Tuesday it has agreed with Glencore Plc and Teck Resources Ltd on a coking coal price for first quarter of 2017 supplies that is 43 percent higher than the previous quarter.

The companies agreed on a price of $285 a ton for supplies of Australia’s premium hard coking coal for the January-March quarter next year, a Nippon Steel spokeswoman said, without giving any details.

If other international steelmakers follow this price, it would be the highest industry quarterly benchmark since the fourth quarter of 2011.

Editorial: Mountaintop mining ban will protect Upper Cumberland (Knoxville News Sentinel – December 13, 2016)

December 13, 2016

http://www.knoxnews.com/

In a victory for those who love Tennessee’s mountains, the U.S. Department of the Interior last week banned mountaintop coal mining from more than 500 miles of ridgetops in the Upper Cumberland region. The decision, six years in the making, places a 1,200-foot buffer – 600 feet on both sides of the ridgetops – from surface mining. In all, the ruling covers nearly 75,000 acres of state-managed land.

The land that will be declared off-limits to mountaintop mining is in Scott, Morgan, Anderson and Campbell counties and falls within the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area and the Emory River Tract Conservation Easement.

The state petitioned the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement for the declaration in 2010, three months before then-Gov. Phil Bredesen left office. In its petition, the state said mountaintop coal mining would be incompatible with existing local and state plans and would result in significant damage to cultural, scientific, aesthetic values or natural systems.

China coal miners boost output, but consumption rises as winter nears – by Meng Meng and Josephine Mason (Daily Mail/Reuters – December 13, 2016)

December 13, 2016

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

BEIJING, Dec 13 (Reuters) – China’s coal miners ramped up output in November, but production was still down year-on-year and power consumption rose at its fastest pace in years, underlining the government’s difficulties as it tries to avert a winter energy crisis.

The data was the strongest sign yet that miners are struggling to comply with government orders to crank out more thermal coal supplies for the power sector ahead of the busiest and coldest months of the year.

Production in November fell to 308.1 million tonnes, up 9 percent from October, but still down 5.1 percent from a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics data showed.

Teck CEO Don Lindsay looks to longer-term plans as miner rebounds – by Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – December 12, 216)

December 12, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

VANCOUVER — It has been heartening this fall for Don Lindsay to watch ships in the Port of Vancouver as they transport steel-making coal headed for Asia. The coal ships plying the waters of Burrard Inlet have again become a welcome sight for Teck Resources Ltd.’s chief executive officer, who has a panoramic view of the inlet from the company’s head office in downtown Vancouver.

The market for metallurgical coal – a raw material that is used in the steel-making process – began edging up earlier this year and started surging even higher in September.

Canada’s largest diversified mining company has staged a remarkable comeback in 2016. It hasn’t been solely lucky timing owing to rising commodity prices. Teck managed to bounce back by maintaining a healthy balance sheet through paying down debt and preserved its core assets while avoiding any issuance of shares, Mr. Lindsay said in an interview on Teck’s 34th floor of a Vancouver office tower.