Ten new apprentices have joined Rio Tinto’s Hunter Valley Operations and Mount Thorley Warkworth mines in Australia.
They join 25 other apprentices already completing four-year electrical or mechanical apprenticeships with the opencast coal mines, employed through group training organisation Programmed Training Services.
Mark Rodgers, General Manager of operations at Mount Thorley Warkworth, said: “Rio Tinto is pleased to be able to provide these apprenticeships to local people in the Hunter Valley. With the support of our group training partner, Programmed, the new apprentices will receive training and hands on experience in a safe and supportive environment for their chosen trades.”
Rodgers added: “The programme provides apprentices with a great start in the mining industry, builds capacity in the Hunter Valley and allows Rio Tinto to draw on a pool of talented workers.”
New mechanical apprentice Corey McNee commented: “I’m already learning a lot from working alongside trades people who have so much knowledge and experience, which they’re happy to share.”
McNee continued: “I’ve always been mechanically minded and interested in understanding how things work, so the mining industry is really exciting. We get to work on such a variety of large vehicles and equipment, there’s always something new to learn. … I’d encourage anyone thinking about doing a trade to look at the mining industry, there’s so many opportunities and it can take you anywhere in the world.”
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Amy Jacobsen has been appointed Chairman of mining consultancy, Behre Dolbear, the company announced in a press release. Chris Wyatt will also join the board of directors.
“We are delighted that Amy has accepted the role of Chairman and that Chris has joined our board,” said David Linsey, Director of Behre Dolbear. “Both of them have extensive experience in the mining industry, as well as an understanding of Behre Dolbear’s heritage, how it operates, our high standards, our reputation and what we are looking to achieve in the future.”
Jacobsen has been a member of the board since November 2015 and has been with the company since 2006 in various roles, including Vice President of Global Business Development and Managing Directory of Behre Dolbear Management Consulting. A graduate of the Colorado School of Mines, she has expertise in base and precious metals, as well as fertilizers and energy fuels.
Wyatt has been at Behre Dolbear since 2007, holding a number of roles including Vice President of Behre Dolbear USA. He has more than 25 years experience in the international mining industry in both industrial and conventional minerals.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
The owners of the Colstrip Steam Electric Station, including Talen Montana LLC (an affiliate of Talen Energy), Puget Sound Energy, Avista Corp., Portland General Electric Co., NorthWestern Corp. and PacifiCorp, have reached a proposed settlement in a lawsuit filed in 2013 by Sierra Club and the Montana Environmental Information Center under the Clean Air Act.
In the proposed settlement, they have decided to retire operations of two of the four units at the 2094 MW Colstrip plant. They intend to retire units 1 and 2 (307 MW each) on or before 1 July 2022.
Another core element of the proposed settlement includes the liability releases for the owners of all four units, without requiring monetary payments to the plaintiffs. Apart from outright dismissal of all claims against Units 3 and 4, those units are not affected by the proposed settlement.
“The proposed consent decree, if approved by the United States District Court for the District of Montana, would resolve the litigation against all four Colstrip units and provide liability releases to the owners of all four units,” said Charles Baker, General Manager, Talen Montana.
Aside from the 1 July 2022 deadline in the proposed settlement, there is no formal plan or timeline currently in place for retiring Units 1 and 2.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has entered into definitive documentation of its previously announced agreement in principle with the state’s largest coal operator, Alpha Natural Resources, which filed for bankruptcy in August 2015.
Alpha filed the agreement with DEP along with similar agreements with the other States in which Alpha will continue to operate, as well as several agencies of the US, with the court overseeing Alpha’s bankruptcy case. The bankruptcy court also entered an order approving the agreements and confirming Alpha’s bankruptcy plan. A closing is expected to occur later this month.
The DEP’s agreement with Alpha has an undiscounted value of more than US$325 million to the State of West Virginia. It will set out the bonding and reclaiming of all of Alpha’s legacy liability sites in West Virginia, as well as its continuing operations in West Virginia.
Under the agreement, the surety bonds Alpha previously posted to obtain its mining permits will remain fully in place. But Alpha, West Virginia’s last remaining self-bonded coal company, will post an additional US$100 million in surety and other forms of bonds to replace all of the self-bonds at its active and inactive mining sites in West Virginia. Alpha will also immediately post US$39 million in letters of credit or cash bonds as financial assurance for the performance of Alpha’s reclamation and water treatment obligations at its other remaining self-bonded sites in West Virginia.
Alpha has committed to post bonds for – and reclaim and treat water at – all of its remaining mining sites, including sites in other States and sites at which it has ceased mining operations, over time.
Consequently, Alpha and its secured creditors have committed to provide at least an additional US$229 million in secured funding. Of that amount, Alpha has committed to provide at least US$124 million of funding for reclamation and water treatment over ten years, with a further commitment to provide half of its excess operating cash flow over and above that amount for reclamation and water treatment at its legacy sites.
The purchaser of Alpha’s Wyoming and other operations, an entity formed by Alpha’s secured creditors, has agreed to provide the remainder of the funding—an additional US$55 million in reclamation and water treatment funding over the next five years, as well as a guaranty Alpha’s excess operating cash flow commitment, up to an additional US$50 million.
West Virginia’s share of the $229 million in funds committed to reclamation and water treatment will be more than 80% for at least the first two years.
Kevin W. Barrett, a Bailey & Glasser partner and Special Assistant Attorney General for the State in connection with the Alpha and other coal company bankruptcy cases, called the agreement “ground-breaking.” He added, “Not only does the agreement secure the commitment of Alpha and its secured creditors to fully bond and reclaim all of Alpha’s mining sites in West Virginia, it marks the first time that a large coal company has committed to remain in business and continue to operate for the primary purpose of reclaiming its legacy mining sites.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released preliminary data from its annual survey of electric generators (EIA-860), which provides information on pollution control equipment at electric power plants. A significant number of electric power plants recently installed such equipment in response to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS).
Source: EIA, Annual Electric Generator Data (EIA-860) Early Release and Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (EIA-860M)Note: SCR is selective catalytic reduction.
MATS establishes emissions limits for toxic air pollutants associated with coal combustion such as mercury, arsenic, and heavy metals. MATS requires all coal generators that sell power and have capacity greater than 25 MW to comply with specific emission limits by April 2015. Although hundreds of coal generators have capacities below 25 MW, those units collectively represent less than 1% of total coal capacity.
Coal-fired generating capacity in the US decreased to 276 GW as of April 2016. Coal-fired generation’s share of total electricity generation fell from 39% in 2014 to 28% in the first four months of 2016. These changes can be attributed to a mix of competitive pressure from low natural gas prices and the costs and technical challenges of environmental compliance measures.
Between January 2015 and April 2016, about 87 GW of coal-fired plants installed pollution control equipment and nearly 20 GW of coal capacity retired. 26% of those retirements occurred in April 2015, the MATS rule’s initial compliance date. Most remaining coal plants applied for and received one-year extensions that allowed them to operate until April 2016 while developing compliance strategies. If a coal unit did not meet MATS requirements by then, it had to either retire, switch to another fuel, or cease operation. A few plants, totaling 2.3 GW, received additional one-year extensions, giving them until April 2017 to comply. About 5.6 GW of coal capacity fuel switched primarily to natural gas.
Of the 87 GW of coal capacity that installed pollution control equipment to comply with MATS, activated carbon injection (ACI) was the dominant compliance strategy. More than 73 GW of coal-fired capacity installed ACI systems in 2015 and 2016, effectively doubling the amount of coal capacity with ACI. As a capital investment, ACI systems are relatively modest, with an average cost of US$5.8 million per generator over 2015 and 2016.
Other compliance strategies include the modification of existing emissions control equipment, the addition of new equipment or capabilities, or some combination of operational changes and new investments to improve mercury capture or to achieve other environmental control objectives, such as reducing emissions of particulate matter or nitrogen oxide. Many generators may have installed more than one type of equipment.
Edited from source by Angharad Lock
A recent study, Paris Agreement climate proposals need a boost to keep warming well below 2°C, published in Nature has reported that the 2050 emission reduction target associated with the long-term climate goal of the Paris Agreement requires massive deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS).
The study highlights the critical need for CCS to prevent huge volumes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions being released into the atmosphere from existing industrial and power generation sources.
According to the study, new CCS capacity would need to be installed on emission sources equivalent to around 85 GW of coal-fired power generation each year from 2030 to 2050, to reach a required annual capture target of approximately 10 gigatonnes of CO2 per year. This is about the same as the combined solar and wind generation capacity that is installed annually today.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Global CCS Institute, Brad Page, said the long-term disinclination to support CCS in comparison to renewable energy sources continues to limit the realistic ability of many nations to reduce their emissions consistent with limiting global warming to ‘well below’ 2°C.
“In order to meet these demanding climate targets, we’ve got to reduce emissions from every possible sector, and we’ve got to do it urgently and on a technology-neutral basis,” said Page. “All low carbon technologies must be part of this global mitigation effort – including renewables, nuclear power, energy efficiency, and CCS.”
He continued: “Globally, more than 2400 new coal-fired power stations are already planned for construction by the year 2030. Thousands more facilities are already operational … CCS is vital to limiting the emissions that are effectively already locked in by these facilities, but we have to overcome the policy inertia and reluctance to support CCS that is actively preventing investment in this vital technology. The entrenched policy disparity that has delivered more than US$800 billion in support to renewables over the past 10 years compared to less than US$20 billion for CCS over all time is the dominant driver of the very strong private sector investment in renewables compared to CCS. The simple fact is that we need both to meet climate targets.”
“This policy disparity is costing the world valuable time to scale up a proven emissions reduction solution. It is essential that policy-makers consider CCS as an additional and complementary emissions reduction technology to renewables, and one that offers material-scale, cost-effective emission reductions within the timeframe needed to tackle climate change.”
“Renewables alone cannot get us to the necessary emissions reduction targets within the necessary timeframe. Gas-fired power generation without CCS remains too carbon-intensive to be considered a realistic solution in its own right,” Page concluded. “The urgency of CCS deployment is increasing every day. Strong, supportive policies are needed now to achieve the CCS deployment rate necessary between 2030 and 2050 to meet the targets described in the Paris Agreement.”
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Throughput at Russia’s seaports hit 344.5 million t in 1H16, a 6% rise on the same period last year, according to figures from the Federal Agency of Marine and River Transport. Dry bulk commodities amounted to 156.8million t of that, 10.7% up, while liquid cargoes grew by 2.3% to 187.7 million t.
Dry bulk cargo shipments grew in four of the five regions, up 10.9% in the Arctic, 1.1% in the Baltic, 16.9% in the Azov-Black Sea Basin and 15% in the Far East. Dry bulk shipments were down 11.8% in the Caspian Basin, however,
The Far East – through which much of the country’s coal exports to Asia flows – saw the largest volumes of dry bulk, accounting for 53.7 million t. Meanwhile, the Azov-Black Sea Basin, a key grain exporting region, shipped 45.5 million t.
Russia exports 37.5 million t of coal in 1Q16, a 5% increase year-on-year increase with coal shipped through eastern ports up 18% in 1Q17.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Following the resignation of former CEO Dertje Meijer, COO Koen Overtoom of Havenbedrijf Amsterdam N.V. has been appointed interim CEO of Port of Amsterdam, effective 1 August 2016.
Overtoom joined Port of Amsterdam in 2005 and has held the post of COO since its corporatisation in April 2013. He is responsible in this role for Port of Amsterdam’s Commercial Division and Infra and Environment Division. The finances of the Harbour Master’s Division also fall under his responsibility.
Koen Overtoom and CFO Michiel de Brauw will carry out the day-to-day management of Havenbedrijf Amsterdam N.V. on an interim basis.
The Supervisory Board is currently considering options for a permanent appointment for the position of CEO. The new Supervisory Board Chairman who is yet to be appointed will also be involved in this process.
Port of Amsterdam is Western Europe’s fourth largest port and plays a large role in the transhipment and processing of energy products.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Operations at Callide C coal-fired power plant in central Queensland will continue as normal, despite co-owner IG Power being placed into receivership in June. IG Power owns a 50% stake in the 810 MW plant in joint venture with CS Energy.
“For CS Energy, it has been and continues to be business at usual at Callide C power station,” said Acting CS Energy CEO, Andrew Varvari.
“We are continuing to generate electricity and supply the National Electricity Market with power and there has not been – and we expect going forward there will not be – any impact for our workers at the power station.”
CS Energy is also the operator and supplier of services to Callide C under and operation and maintenance agreement and station services agreement.
“As is usual in these types of situations, CS Energy continues to meet with the receivers to discuss relevant business requirement,” continues Varvari. “We will continue to work with them to ensure that we achieve the best possible outcome for the ongoing operation of the Callide C power station.”
Callide C was commissioned in 2001 and was the first supercritical power plant in Australia. It features two 405 MW generating units and supplied from Anglo American’s neighbouring Callide coal mine.
CS Energy operates three power plants in Queensland. In addition to the Callide plant, the company also operated the 750 MW coal-fired Kogan Creek plant in southwest Queensland and the 500 MW pumped-storage hydroelectric Wivenhoe plant. The company also owns the Kogan Creek coal mine.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
ASX-listed coal company Resource Generation has adopted a new execution strategy for development of its Boikarabelo coal mine in the Waterberg region of South Africa, following a review by the technical committer established by the board of directors in December 2015.
According to the company’s quarterly report for the three months ending 30 July, a new mining plan has been developed that will “maximise recovery of the coal deposit by mining all seals and minimise out-of-pit dumping of waste”. The company is now focused on preparing the project for the first EPC contractors in 4Q16.
The new strategy also calls for the company to de-risk through the appointment of EPC contractors for the construction of the mine and preparation plant.
The company put out a request for information to seven mining contract companies in March with a request for a proposal sent to a shortlist of three at the beginning of June. The appointment of a mining contractor is expected during July.
Sedgman was appointed as the contractor for the procurement and construction of the coal handling plant in May.
The Boikarabelo coal project area contains probable reserves of 744.8 million t. Stage 1 on the mine development targets saleable coal production of 6 million tpy. The company is also investigated the potential for a coal-fired mine mouth power plant of up to 600 MW.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
South African state-owned utility, Eskom, has urged Anglo American in improve the performance at its New Denmark coal mine. The total cost of coal from New Denmark, which supplies the Tutaka power plant, was ZAR1600 per tonne for April and May 2016, Eskom said.
This includes the total cost of operating the mine, as well as amortisation costs of historical capital expenditure – but is more than double Eskom’s average cost of coal.
“The investment in the New Denmark Colliery was done on a cost-plus basis with an intention of providing a strategic advantage to Eskom and the country in relation to security of supply and pricing,” said Eskom in a statement.
“This arrangement is currently not yielding the intended benefits. Eskom therefore urges Anglo American to radically change the performance of the mine to be in line with intended expectations.”
For its part, Anglo American said that it invoiced Eskom an average of ZAR668 per tonne for the period April 2015 – March 2016, “in line with the contract, mine progress and agreed budget between Eskom and Anglo American”.
Tutuka power plant in Mpumalange Province has a total installed capacity of 3654 W split across six 609 MW units. It has averaged production of 19 765 GWh over the past three years.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
RungePincockMinarco (RPM) has released the latest version of its TALPAC haulage and loading simulation solution. TALPAC 11 offers innovative and dynamic user interface enhancements, as well as an expansion of its equipment library, which is the largest in the industry.
“This latest release of TALPAC with its enhanced user interface environment and expanded equipment database will help our users achieve the next level of productivity needed,” said Simulation Solutions Product Manager, Adam Price.
“TALPAC is one of our grassroots products that is widely known and respected throughout the mining industry,” continued Price. “With mine productivity and efficiency at the forefront of mining agendas, TALPAC is the go-to tool for simulating truck and loader haulage systems.”
According to RPM, with this release, TALPAC retains its reputation of having the industry’s largest and most comprehensive equipment database. TALPAC allows users to experiment with its equipment database to investigate multiple fleet options to optimise productivity. In doing so, users are reducing risk and uncertainty and improving overall outcomes at their operations.
“TALPAC is key for evaluating the efficiency, productivity and economics of mining fleet,” concluded Price. “With this release, TALPAC 11 takes truck and loader simulation outcomes to the next level.”
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Trade union United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) has reached tentative agreements with Alpha Natural Resources and Contura Energy, a new company formed by Alpha’s first-lien lenders and holding the bulk of Alpha’s core assets. The agreement covers around 900 workers are mines in Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
“This has been a long and difficult set of negotiations, UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts said. “It is never easy bargaining with a company in bankruptcy, especially one that has a judge’s order in its back pocket that eliminates the existing agreement.”
The agreement with Contura Energy would cover almost 800 workers at the Cumberland and Emerald mines in Pennsylvania, the McClure preparation plant in Virginia and the Power Mountain preparation plant in West Virginia. The agreement with Alpha would cover over 100 UMWA workers at preparation plants in West Virginia that are not being transferred to Contura.
“The devastation to America’s coal industry in undeniable,” Roberts continued. “This is the last of three companies that filed bankruptcy in 2015 to emerge and we sincerely hope there will be no more.”
The agreements now go to the union’s membership for approval, which is by no means assured. UMWA recently members rejected an agreement with the Bituminous Coal Operations Association, whose largest member is Murray American Energy, on a new five and a half year contract.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Howard Broadfoot has joined FreightCar America Inc. as Vice President, Manufacturing – Shoals, as of 27 June 2016.
In this newly appointed position, Broadfoot will report directly to Joseph E. McNeely, President and CEO, and serve as a key member of the company’s leadership team.
“We are pleased to have Howard leading our Shoals manufacturing plant. His experience in building world class manufacturing operations will be instrumental in continuing the growth of the Shoals facility into a “World Class” railcar manufacturing operation,” said McNeely.
Before joining the company, Broadfoot most recently was the VP of Operations of Electro-Mechanical Corporation with multi-plant, multi-product line responsibility in the electrical transmission, distribution and control business for seven years. He also held senior operations leadership roles with Thomas and Betts, Newell-Rubbermaid and the ZF Group America.
McNeely concluded: “The entire FreightCar America team is extremely excited about Howard joining FreightCar and look forward to a long, productive relationship”.
Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, FreightCar America Inc. manufactures a wide range of railroad freight cars, supplies railcar parts and leases freight cars through its JAIX Leasing company subsidiary. It designs and builds railcars, including coal cars, bulk commodity cars, covered hopper cars, intermodal and non-intermodal flat cars, mill gondola cars, coil steel cars and boxcars.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Maptek Evolution has introduced Evolution 4.5, which features the new graphics environment that provides Maptek I-Site, BlastLogic and Eureka software users with a superior visualisation experience.
“The high performance graphics engine can display and manipulate large models of several hundred million blocks, along with the solids and triangulations that make up those blocks,” said Steve Craig, Maptek Manager of Scheduling Solutions.
“Mines are complex environments and scheduling production is just as complex. Planners must consider cut-off grade, route and equipment allocation, cycle times, fuel burn and waste dump locations.”
“There’s universal benefit in being able to present an integrated, holistic 3D view of a mine site by simultaneously displaying multiple models, waste dumps, haul networks and topography.”
Evolution Phase is a new member of the Evolution family. This product allows the engineer to build practical phases from a series of optimal shells very quickly. Being able to cycle rapidly through this process ensures value is maximised from pit optimisation through to schedule optimisation. The adage that ‘schedules are only as good as the phases that are designed’ rings true.
Evolution Strategy maximises net present value and generates cut-off grade optimisation policies. Existing stockpiles can be modelled with tonnage and grade items.
As well as minimum and maximum accumulation constraints for multiple processes, a global minimum cut-off can now be specified.
“If users want to run Strategy without cut-off grade optimisation, they can now fix their own cut-off grade policy,’ added Craig. ‘The optimisation process then determines the best extraction sequence for that setting. More importantly, users can simply turn this feature on and then determine the value adding capability of running with cut-off grade optimisation. In most cases we will see a significant uplift in value of up to 25%.”
Improved charting and export of schedules across multiple elements and processes is also included in upgrades to Strategy in this release.Evolution Origin generates detailed scheduling scenarios from life-of-mine to short term planning horizons and can apply optimisation policies generated by Strategy.
In version 4.5 users can now set maximum constraints per stage/group/period for manipulating sequences through the model. Specifying multiple truck types to work in the same mining area allows for mining different material types with different equipment.
Improved interoperability for haul network creation allows users to drag and drop a haul network created in Vulcan Envisage into Evolution to automatically configure the schedule network. Multiple digger fleets can also be allocated.
Other features of the Evolution 4.5 release include selecting imperial and metric units and currency and customising settings that persist into reporting and tabulations.
“Evolution 4.5 adds usability and variety to confirm its place among next generation technology,” said Craig. “Mines can schedule their operations using our advanced optimisation techniques, which by their very nature are designed to mimic reality and complexity. Interoperability with the resource model, integrated workflows and parallel processing technology, and now the latest visualisation engine gives you a truly world class scheduling solution.”
Edited from press release by Angharad Lock
US coal production is projected to decline by about 26% – or 230 million short t – between 2015 and 2040, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2016 (AEO2016) Reference case, which assumes the implementation of the Clean Power Plan (CPP).
In a scenario that assumes the CPP is never implemented (No CPP case), US coal production remains close to 2015 levels through 2040. Although production in each major U.S. coal supply region is expected to decline when the CPP is implemented, the magnitude of the effects differs because of differences in coal quality, pricing, and the markets served by each region.
In 2015, the coal production shares of the West, Interior and Appalachian regions were 55%, 19%, and 26%, respectively. In the No-CPP scenario, these shares were expected to shift to 52%, 29%, and 20% by 2040, respectively, as coal production from the Interior region increases, while coal production in the West and Appalachian regions decreases.
In the Reference case, the decline in coal demand impedes growth for the Interior region and leads to even larger declines in the West and Appalachian regions. By 2040, market shares for the West, Interior and Appalachian regions are 51%, 26%, 22%, respectively.
Clean Power Plan reduced projected coal production in all major US supply basins.
Coal production in the West region falls by 155 million short t between 2015 and 2040 in the Reference case, compared to a reduction of 31 million short t in the No CPP case. Approximately two-thirds of Western coal production occurs in the Powder River Basin, where relatively low mining costs and low-sulfur coal have offset higher transportation costs and allowed western coal to remain economic in distant markets.
However, the addition of sulfur control equipment at existing coal-fired power plants to accommodate the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) early in the projection period makes higher sulfur coals more competitive at units that had previously used low-sulfur coal to comply with prior limitations on sulfur dioxide emissions. In the Reference case, competition from natural gas and renewables combined with coal-fired power plant retirements also lowers coal demand in the states that are currently large consumers of Western coal.
Coal production in the Interior region increases by 86 million short t by 2040 in the No CPP case. In the Reference case, this increase is smaller, totaling 5 million short t by 2040. Over the projection period, coal producers in the region are projected to control costs using longwall mining, a technique that is well-suited for the region’s coal reserves. Additionally, the installation of sulfur control equipment at existing coal-fired power plants will enable Interior coal to displace some use of lower-sulfur Western and Appalachian coals.
Coal production in Appalachia, which has declined steeply between 2000 and 2015, is projected to see the smallest reduction in production attributable to the CPP.
In the No CPP case, Appalachian coal declines by 50 million short t by 2040. In the Reference case, Appalachian coal declines 79 million short t.
Appalachian thermal coal production is relatively expensive relative to other coals and it is expected to experience decreasing labour productivity. This lower productivity further decreases its competitiveness with coal from other regions, as well as with other fuels used to generate electricity, such as natural gas.
However, production of metallurgical coal, which represented about 28% of the region’s total coal production in 2014, is not affected directly by the CPP. Despite this, slower growth in international metallurgical coal demand and falling international thermal coal trade also limit projected export growth for Appalachian coal.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Bilan Uzhakhov
According to the Russian Prime Minister, Dmitri Medvedev, Russia’s coal exports in 2016 are forecast to remain level with the previous year and can be described as ‘rather good results considering the current climate’. Actually, the current state of the Russian coal industry is far from being favourable. Is there a future for Russian coal miners and what can the government do to support the industry?
Russia ranks sixth in the world when it comes to total coal output. In 2015, coal in Russia was mined by 192 companies: 121 opencast mining operations and 71 underground operations. In 1Q16, 95.7 million t of coal was mined in Russia with thermal coal occupying a substantial share in the total output.
Russian coal output (million t).
Russian coal production by type.
At first glance, the state of the Russian coal mining industry does not seem to be dismal: in 2015 coal production increased by 4% to reach 373 million t, while consumption growth hit 2%. However, the Russian coal industry is facing a number of problems and risks both in the domestic market and relating to exports.
Russian coal miners admit that 2015 was successful in the domestic market due to low water levels in the hydraulic power systems of Siberia and the Far East. This resulted in the load being shifted from hydropower plants to steam plants, including coal-steam plants. But this year is unlikely to bring such good luck. The programme of Siberia gasification is being implemented as planned. With low gas prices, it will develop more quickly. Another stumbling block for coal miners will be an increase in cheap coal imports from Kazakhstan. However, today’s extremely low global prices make the domestic market attractive for selling thermal coal. And the competition in that market will get fiercer.
The domestic market is, however, faced with a significant problem in the form of the rates charged by Russian Railways. These rates result in all potential profits often being used to cover logistical expenses. As a result, transportation costs have decreased profit on some coal deliveries to almost nothing. It appears that the domestic sales market of Russian coal is now fully dependent on railway rates.
Coal is Russia’s fifth largest basic export product. When it comes to coal exports, Russia ranks third in the world after Indonesia and Australia. In 2015, the export proceeds totalled US$9.5 billion and in 1Q16 they stood at US$1.9 billion. Russian coal mining companies would prefer to export coal rather than deliver it to the domestic market from the standpoint of cost effectiveness. In 2015, the volume of exports was 155 million t, or 40% of the total coal output in Russia. The county’s export volume has constantly increased starting from the post-Soviet era, when global coal prices began to increase. Between 2007 and 2009, the world coal market witnessed a decrease in prices that then gave way to the price increase recorded until 2012.
From 2012 to the present day, the global fall in prices have been balanced by a rise in the strength of the dollar against the rouble. The devaluation of the rouble supported exports and offered some advantages to Russian coal in the world market.
In addition to low prices, the reduction in coal consumption by many countries for environmental reasons is still the major stumbling block for export. For example, in 2015, Russian coal deliveries to China decreased by 11 million t. In spite of this, China is still one of the primary export markets for Russian coal.
In 2015, the main export areas for Russian Coal Group included Poland, South Korea, Japan, China, Bulgaria and the Baltics. The company’s exports can be divided into Europe (51% of export) and Asia and Pacific countries (49%). Deliveries to China are still treated as one of the priority export areas and are carried out via traders, as well as directly through overland borders. Russian Coal Group treats Poland as another top priority foreign sales market, as local production falls due to the high costs of mining.
Investment in the Russian coal sector will not exceed RUB 52 billion this year, a fall on previous years, representing one of the major threats to the industry. At the current rate of exchange, it is less than US$1 billion. For comparison, in 2013, investments in the Russian coal industry totalled around US$2 billion. The consequences of this reduced investment will make themselves felt not only in 2016 but also in 2017 – 2018. The investment reserve created in 2013 – 2014 is now used to maintain current production levels.
In the opinion of the author, further reduction in investments is impossible because that would pose a threat to the existence of the industry itself. Lack of manufacturing investments will result in an increase in production cost. Coal producers have low profitability and the lack of investment will only make these profitability figures worse.
In 2015, Russian Coal Group’s investments totalled around RUB 1.5 billion. In 2016, depending on the market situation, the company plans to invest another RUB 1.5 billion. This level of investment is necessary in order to support its existing facilities, namely seven companies in the Amur region, the Republic of Khakassia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory that employ over 4000 miners.
Today, most Russian coal producers suffer losses. Over recent years, the companies’ costs have increased dramatically, while export prices are now at the level of the years 2003 – 2004. If the dollar stands at less than RUB 70, all the positive impact of the 2015 devaluation will be lost. It will be the major stumbling block for business efficiency of domestic coal producers, whose costs continue to increase. After all, considering the devaluation, to upgrade equipment, 60% of which consists of imported equipment, companies will have to pay a much higher price.
Russian thermal coal output in 2015 (million t): top five producers.
The list of survivors of the current severe conditions can only include those coal companies that:
Optimising business processes and increasing labour productivity are now of vital importance.
What can the Russian government do in order to support the coal industry? To begin with, it can support the development and deployment of advanced coal processing technologies, which can contribute to making applications of coal more diverse. Developing those technologies is not possible without government support. Taking such technologies to the level of pilot production entails high levels of investment that are currently not available to the business. The payback period is the key to the future.
In any event, the future of the Russian economy is closely associated with coal mining: the coal industry now employs 148 000 Russians and another 500 000 Russians are employed in related sectors. Coal companies are crucial enterprises in 31 Russian industrial towns that have the total population of 1.5 million people.
About the author: Bilan Uzhakhov is Director General of Russian Coal Group.
Australian energy company, CS Energy, has completed a major overhaul of its Kogan Creek coal-fired power plant in southwest Queensland. The overhaul saw hundreds of additional workers onsite, providing a significant economic boost to the region.
A total of 260 000 hours were worked on the project, which saw the site workforce peak at 515 people. No lost time injuries occurred throughout the overhaul.
The contractors responsible for the overhaul included MHPS Plant Services, Siemens and Australian Laboratory Services. These were assisted by a number of Kogan Creek’s regular local suppliers.
“Regular overhauls are essential for keeping power stations operating safety, reliably and efficiently,” said Phil Matha, Kogan Creek General Manager.
When operating at peak capacity, Kogan Creek power plant can generate enough electricity to power up to one million homes.
CS Energy owns three power plants in Queensland. In addition to Kogan Creek, the company also owns the 1510 MW Callide coal-fired power plant and the 500 MW pumped-storage hydroelectric Wivenhoe power plant. It also mines coal at the Kogan Creek mine.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Tata Steel has entered talks with other “strategic players in the steel industry”, including German-rival, thyssenkrupp, to explore the feasibility of forming a joint venture for its European business, as an alternative to its sale.
“We have initiated conversations for a strategic collaboration for our European business,” said Koushik Chatterjee, Tata’s Executive Director for Europe, in a press release. “It is too early to give any assurances about the success of these talks.”
Tata had been in discussions with seven potential buyers of its UK business after saying it would sell all or part of it British operations in March. The company employs more than 6000 workers in the UK, including 4000 at Port Talbot in Wales.
But following the uncertainty caused by the UK’s vote to leave the EU and continuing uncertainty over the company’s pension liabilities, Tata said it had decided to look at alternative and “more sustainable portfolio solutions”.
“Success, especially the inclusion of the UK business in the potential joint venture, would depend on several issues including finding a suitable outcome for the British Steel Pension Scheme, successful discussions with the UK trade unions and the delivery of policy initiatives and other support from the Governments of the UK and Wales,” continued Chatterjee. “These are necessary for realising a sustainable business in the UK.
Separately, the company said it was selling its UK speciality steels business in South Yorkshire and its Hartlepool-based pipe mills business.
“Tata Steel UK has already received interest from several bidders for the speciaility steels and the pipe mills in each case and a formal process will be commencing shortly,” Chatterjee said.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Troubled Mongolian coal company, Mongolian Mining Corp., has been informed by lawyers for its creditors that BNP Paribas Singapore Branch, one of its lenders, has submitted an application for its liquidation.
The application has been submitted to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, where Mongolian Mining Corp. is incorporated, for processing.
The agreement with BNP Paribas Singapore Branch dates back to 2014, when Mongolian Mining Corp. entered into a loan agreement with that bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
Mongolian Mining Corp. has yet to receive any official notice in relation to the petition from the Cayman Court.
Coal of Africa’s (CoAL) takeover of Universal Coal appears shaky after the company said it had not satisfied the some of the outstanding conditions and would not extend the offer period beyond 15 July.
“If conditions are not all satisfied by 15 July 2016 […] the offer will lapse,” CoAL said in a statement.
As of 8 July, CoAL had not secured the additional funding pursuant to the potential working capital opportunities being progressed with third parties.
In addition, the long-term coal supply agreement with Eskom at the New Clydesdale Colliery has not yet been finalised or signed and to this end the CoAL directors are not able to give the required working capital statement on the readmission of the consideration shares and CoAL’s shares to trading on AIM.
“Universal continued to engage with Eskom on potential offtake agreements for thermal coal product from NCC and is currently finalising implementation plans to commence operations on a short-term basis,” said Universal Coal in a press release. “Universal will keep the market abreast of developments in this regard.”
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
The US National Mining Association (NMA) has criticised the “false assumptions” behind the US government’s proposed coal royalty change, calling it an “election-year stunt” that will hurt consumers.
“While claiming action in the name of the US taxpayer, this latest assault on the coal industry is nothing more than another covert operation in the administration’s ‘keep in the ground’ campaign” the NMA said in a media statement.
“The casualties will be an industry that has worked diligently to provide Americans with low cost, reliable energy and the low-income families who rely on that energy.”
According to the NMA, coal royalty rates are already above market, delivering almost 40 cents for every dollar in federal coal sales to the government. This undermines the “specious claim that somehow taxpayers are being cheated.”
“All this at a time when the industry is being arbitrarily punished by the administration for providing low-cost energy, while at the same time hemorrhaging high-wage hobs – more than 67 400 since 2011 – in some of the nation’s most economically depressed areas.”
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Kibo Mining has completed the mining definitive feasibility study (MDFS) for the Mbeya coal-to-power project (MCPP). The MDFS findings suggest that the mine is a “robust project with strong financial and commercial indicators,” the company said in a press release.
The MDFS sees IRR improve to 69.2% compared to 53.9% from the prefeasibility study and defines a payback period of 2.4 years, a 7% improvement on the 2.6 years from the prefeasibility report. Importantly, the MDFS also reduced peak funding requirements by over half to US$17 million.
The mining method selected for the project is a modification on terrace mining with overburden removed by truck and shovel and coal and interburden mined by mechanised continuous surface mining.
“The significance of the mining method that was developed for the Mbeya coal mine cannot be underestimated,” said Louis Coetzee, CEO of Kibo Mining. “The method not only eliminated one of the two biggest environmental risks for the MCPP, i.e. eliminating the need to wash coal, but also required the coal requirement by 23%, which means substantial cost savings for both the mine and power plant.”
The decrease in coal requirements is a result of the particular accuracy of the continuous surface mining technique, which allows coal to be mined at delivered to the power plant at a reliable and consistent calorific value. This ensures optimal fuel efficiencies can be achieved at the power plant, reducing its need for coal, while maintaining its garget output of 1840 GH per year.
With the completion of the MDFS, Kibo is able to complete the final work on the integrated bankable feasibility study for the project.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
The US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has approved Alpha Natural Resources’ plan of reoganisation, the company has announced in a press release.
The plan will come into effect on the company’s emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which is expected in late July. On emergence from Chapter 11, Alpha is expected to operate as a privately-held company.
The court also approved the sale of Alpha’s core assets to Contura Energy, a new company formed by a group of Alpha’s first-lien lender. The sale is scheduled to close at the same time as Alpha emerges from Chapter 11 and includes Alpha’s assets in the Powder River Basin, Pennsylvania and the Nicholas, McClure and Toms Creek mines in Virginia and West Virginia.
Alpha’s interest in the Dominion Terminal Associates coal export terminal in Newport News, Virginia, is also included in the sale.
As part of the deal to let Alpha leave Chapter 11, Contura Energy will also provide credit support for the reorganised Alpha to fund the company’s reclamation activities.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Chinese energy company, Shanghai Electric Power, and Ncondezi Energy, the developer of the Ncondezi power plant in Mozambique, have signed a Shareholders Agreement Term Sheet on a recent visit to Maputo
The term sheet is an important step towards completing the Joint Development Agreement for the Ncondezi project.
The company’s also met with Mozambique’s Ministers of Mineral Resources and Energy and Finance, Electricity de Mozambique (EdM) and the Chinese Embassy. The delegations were let by SAP Chairman Wang Yundan and Michael Haworth, Chairman of Ncondezi Energy.
“SEP has a strong desire to work with Ncondezi and the Mozambican Government to generate power as soon as possible,” said Wang. “The preparatory work is in the advanced stages following significant collaboration between the SEP and Ncondezi technical teams.”
“SEP is the right partner to facilitate the development of the Ncondezi Project and brings significant development and operational experience to the project,” said Haworth.
The Ncondezi project includes an integrated thermal coal mine and power plant of an initial 300 MW.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
British Columbia anthracite developer, Atrum Coal, has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a European manufacturer and supplier of specialised carbon products.
The MoU sets out the principles for negotiating a coal sale and purchase agreement for the sale of anthracite from the Groundhog North project. The potential buyer intends to use the Groundhog North anthracite as feedstock for its manufacturing process.
“We are excited to be working with a supplier of high-value carbon products,” said Atrum’s Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Peter Doyle. “This MoU is an important milestone in our strategy of developing sales channels into growing specialised carbon markets.”
According to Doyle, the MoU represents the development of the “second leg of our market entry plan” and builds on the anthracite’s traditional steel markets.
“Speciality carbon products by nature require ultra-high-quality carbon inputs for the manufacturing process and this feedstock is rare and highly valued,” continued Doyle. “Supply of European anthracite is diminishing and imminent closures of major suppliers in western Europe is creating a strong demand profile from tier one economies.”
Speciality carbon products requiring ultra-high-grade anthracite include the manufacture of filtration media, activated carbon, for use in cathodes and electrodes, and use as a synthetic graphite.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Downer EDI Ltd has signed a Technical Services Agreement (TSA) with Adani Enterprises Ltd for the provision of mine planning, design and project execution services for the AEL coal mines in India. The TSA has an initial value of US$2 million. It is effective in July 2016 and has an initial term of 12 months. The services include technical and operational support for existing AEL coal mines and technical review of the bids for the Indian coal block auction.
Mr Fenn said the signing of the TSA builds on the excellent relationship between Downer and Adani.
Edited from press release by Angharad Lock
A new trade association has been established to provide the world’s bulk terminals with a united front at governmental level in order to ensure the sector can better face the environmental and commercial challenges ahead.
The Association of Bulk Terminal Operators (ABTO) seeks to provide a voice for bulk terminal operators at a national and international level.
Chief Executive, Ian Adams, said: “The Association of Bulk Terminal Operators was born out of an under representation of the sector at national government and international regulatory level. We hope to facilitate and encourage the free and frank exchange of opinion to enable the dry bulk sector to present a united front in all discussions with governments, shippers, shipowners and operators. Unity is the only way to promote and protect the interests of the world’s bulk terminal operators.”
Adams outlined the structure of the organisation: “The ABTO Secretariat will be guided by a Members Advisory Panel (MAP) on the current and relevant issues influencing the technical, commercial, environmental and market conditions affecting bulk terminal operations and the transportation of commodities.”
All ABTO administrative and management functions are provided by Maritime Association Management Co. (Maritime AMC Ltd), which was formed by four senior members of the maritime community, all of whom have extensive knowledge of the industry and expertise in areas as diverse as marketing, events management and publishing.
“This structure recognises that in these modern times trade association members do not have the time to devote hours or even days to raise issues at a higher level or to influence decision making. We hope to cooperate more fully with all industry organisations, including those representing ship owners/operators, specialist terminal operators and other groups with an interest in the bulk trades to ensure that our members’ voices are heard at national and inter-governmental level,” said Adams.
Membership to ABTO is open to bulk terminal operators, suppliers of equipment and services to those terminals, and relevant associations and institutions.
Adams, the former CE of the International Bunker Industry Association and the Dry Bulk Terminals Group, said: “We are committed to representing the interests of bulk terminal operators at the very highest level.”
Edited from press release by Angharad Lock
Pressured by environmentalists and worried about big losses from a troubled industry, many large banks and other lenders have made a hasty retreat from coal mining in recent years.
But even in these dark times, there was one bank that many coal miners could still count on for financing and advice: .
Not any longer.
The German banking giant is pulling back from the embattled coal sector, another sign of the increasing risks for banks that finance industries that contribute to climate change.
Last week, six senior members of Deutsche Bank’s metals and mining investment banking team, which was responsible for overseeing deals in the coal industry, said they were decamping for Jefferies, a smaller, scrappy New York investment bank that has a knack for scooping up investment bankers who increasingly feel out of place at larger, more heavily scrutinized global banks.
A Deutsche Bank spokeswoman declined to comment on the bankers’ exodus. But industry analysts said the move was partly related to Deutsche Bank’s decision to back away from working on certain coal projects.
Deutsche Bank has no immediate plans to replace the six bankers, who helped the German bank secure the largest market share of metals and mining revenue in the Americas among banks last year. That ranking was up from sixth place in 2011, when many of them joined Deutsche from the Swiss banking rival UBS.
Dan Chu, a prominent coal banker at Deutsche Bank, will be global head of metals and mining investment banking at Jefferies.
“The large banks are under significant pressure from environmental groups to limit their activity in fossil fuels and mining across the board,” said Ted O’Brien, chief executive of Doyle Trading Consultants, which focuses on the coal sector. “This move might reflect an investment banking team that was no longer that important to a large bank and that will now be able to practice their niche under somewhat less scrutiny.”
Once a precious and sought-after resource, coal has fallen on hard times. Earlier this year, environmental groups like the Rainforest Action Network faulted Deutsche Bank for not going far enough in shunning coal.
Other large banks, including , revised their policies to reflect a broader pullback from coal mining. Deutsche Bank had said that it would no longer finance so-called mountaintop removal projects, which involve extracting coal from the surface of mountains, often leaving large gashes in the landscape. But its public policy stopped short of the commitment to a broad retreat that many of the other large banks had made.
Banks are leaving coal for economic reasons, too. Just a few years ago, coal was surging, swept up in a global commodity craze, as mining companies sought to satisfy a seemingly insatiable demand from China.
As recently as 2011, the top 10 investment banks in the sector took in more than $1.6 billion in investment banking revenue from metals and mining deals globally, including coal deals. By 2015, that total had fallen to just $820 million, according to Dealogic.
The American coal industry, in particular, is now suffering a plague of bankruptcies. Power utilities are increasingly turning to cheap natural gas and renewable energy sources such as solar and wind to replace coal. Demand for coal from China has also cooled as its economy slows and the Chinese government tries to shift to cleaner energy sources.
In the first three months of the year, American coal production plummeted to the lowest levels in 35 years, in large part because the winter was so warm. And the spring brought no respite. May’s production of 50 million tons represented a 28 percent decline from May 2015, according to the Energy Department.
In recent days, Murray Energy, a coal giant based in Ohio, sent notices to its employees that said it could be forced to lay off 80 percent of its work force, or roughly 4,400 employees, across six states because of the widespread depression in the industry.
On Thursday, Alpha Natural Resources — which acquired the former Massey Energy in 2011 — received a judge’s approval to exit bankruptcy. As part of a deal in the bankruptcy with the Sierra Club and other environmental groups in West Virginia, Alpha agreed to give 53 million tons of its coal to a nonprofit group for the purpose of its never being mined or burned — a sign of just how little value this commodity holds at the moment.
As the coal industry undergoes what many analysts and investors expect to be a permanent downsizing, environmental groups have faulted Deutsche Bank for helping to sustain some life in the sector.
In recent years, Deutsche has assisted one of mining’s few durable operators, Blackhawk Mining, based in Lexington, Ky., which has been snapping up some of the best mines of bankrupt or nearly bankrupt companies such as Patriot Coal and Arch Coal.
Blackhawk declined to comment.
In more recent months, Deutsche Bank, which prides itself on being one of the top financiers of renewable energy projects in Europe, has taken a tougher stance against coal.
At the annual general meeting in May, Deutsche Bank executives said the bank would not expand its activities in the coal sector, adding to an earlier pledge to “phase out” debt and equity underwriting to companies that engage in mountaintop removal.
“Deutsche Bank supports a well-balanced overall energy mix that takes account of economic conditions as well as environmental and health and safety considerations,” a Deutsche Bank spokesman said in a statement.
Such considerations can go against the very grain of investment bankers, who are conditioned to work on as many deals as possible, not to cap activity.
Debo Adams
The December 2015 Paris Agreement aims to hold the average global temperature increase to well below 2°C and to pursue efforts to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions should peak as soon as possible and then reduce rapidly after peaking, to reach a balance between GHG sources and sinks by the second half of this century. It also says that finance flows should be consistent with a pathway to low-emissions of GHG. A technology mechanism has been introduced to strengthen cooperative action on technology development and transfer, as it is recognised that accelerating, encouraging and enabling innovation is critical. The importance of capacity building for developing countries was also identified to facilitate technology development, dissemination and deployment, as well as the timely and accurate communication of information – among other aims.
So this was an encouraging result. There is a target agreed by 195 countries and mechanisms established to encourage the transfer of technology and finance to poorer parts of the world. Many of the emerging economies do not have reliable access to electricity, but do have substantial coal resources or access to cheap coal.
Thus regardless of the aims agreed in Paris, the IEA expects that 44% of energy needs will still be met by fossil fuels in 2050. This means that high-efficiency, low-emissions (HELE) technologies and carbon capture and storage (CCS) are vital if the Paris ambitions are to be realised. The mechanisms agreed in Paris are important as it is in Asia mainly that most coal developments will take place.
Currently, ultra-supercritical (USC) coal power plants emit almost 20% less CO2 per unit output than traditional subcritical ones. Developments in advanced ultra-supercritical (AUSC) plants mean that a plant operating at 51% efficiency (net LHV basis) would emit up to 28% less CO2 than a subcritical plant. In 1993, the first USC unit was installed in Japan. All units built there are subsequently also USC and operate at about 45% efficiency. Japan has a technology roadmap to 2030 to increase the efficiency of coal-fired plants and develop carbon capture. They also aim to build an AUSC plant.
In 2006, the first USC unit was commissioned in China. By 2017, USC capacity in China will be over 208 000 MWe, with efficiencies of up to 46 – 47%. USC units operate in more than ten countries, including China, Germany, India, Japan, Korea and the US, and the first units are under construction in Malaysia (2015) and Taiwan (2016). There are further coal-based transformational technologies under development, including the integration of gasification-based units with fuel cells, chemical looping combustion and various cycles that use supercritical CO2 as a working fluid to drive a gas turbine to achieve very high efficiencies with lower capital costs.
In China in 2014, 67% of total power generated was supplied by coal. The policy of closing small old inefficient coal-fired power plants and replacing them with large efficient ones is significantly improving the average efficiency of coal use. At the same time, China is diversifying its fuel mix to include significant quantities of wind, solar and hydropower, with a rise in nuclear power.
Coal consumption and coal imports to India will continue to grow, as will its demand for energy. India has a national programme for AUSC plant, with a target efficiency of 49% (LHV). There is a huge market in India for clean coal technologies (CCT). But extensive research is required to match CCT to Indian coal, which typically has a high ash content.
In the EU, coal will remain important for the foreseeable future. Currently, coal supplies more than 26% of electricity generated and is on a par with nuclear and renewables.
Although coal power may well decline further in the US, it will continue to be the second largest user of coal after China. There is a substantial clean coal R&D programme underway in the US with some focus on developing AUSC plant and establishing CCS. The US is funding an advanced combustion programme and investing in pressurised oxy-combustion research for carbon capture as part of a drive to establish second generation coal based CCS schemes with lower efficiencies penalties and reduced capital costs.
Coal will continue to make a vital contribution to the energy mix until 2050 at least, across most of the world. Any growth in coal use is not consistent with current climate policies, unless HELE technologies and CCS are included. The IEA Clean Coal Centre has an important role to play in analysing and disseminating information and knowledge on these practical ways to improve efficiency and reduce emissions from fossil fuel-fired plants.
About the author: Debo Adam is Communications Manager at the IEA Clean Coal Centre.
Coal production in the UK plunged 68.7% year-on-year in 1Q16, according to the latest statistics from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, with underground coal production falling by 99.3% after the closure of the last deep pits last year.
Production totaled 978 000 t in 1Q16 compared to 3.1 million in 1Q15. Of this, 971 000 t came from the remaining opencast mines, while just 7000 t came from underground mines.
This compared to 2.1 million t from opencast mines and 980 000 t from underground mines in 1Q15.
Imports also fell significantly by 54.7% year-on-year as the UK continues to wean itself off of the fuel. Total demand was 7.2 million t compared with 13.6 million t in 1Q15.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
US weekly coal production reached its highest level this year at 13.7 million short t, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) weekly production estimate for the week ending 25 June.
The previous high of 13.6 million short t had come at the end of January. It also marks the second week in a row that coal production has been over the 13 million t mark.
Despite this, production was still down 11.9% year on year – but with year-to-date production down 28.2%, it marks a continued strengthening in US coal production since the lows of the first quarter.
The Interior Region – which includes the Illinois Basin – continues to perform the better of the EIA’s three reporting regions, with year-to-date production down just 22.6% and just 11.3% for the week ending 25 June.
Western Region production – which includes the Powder River Basin – is down 28.7% year-to-date at 174.3 million short t, but was only down 9.3% for the week ending 25 June. Meanwhile, Appalachian production is 31% down year-to-date at 114.2 million short t.
Overall, US year-to-date coal production stands at 316.6 million short t compared to 441.0 million short t over the same period last year. This would put annual production around 633.2 million short t, although there is some hope that coal demand will pick up towards the back end of the year as utilities work through their stockpiles and the winter heating season begins.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Downer EDI Ltd (Downer) has announced it has signed a 2 year extension to its contract to provide mining services at Stanwell Corp.’s Meandu Mine in South East Queensland.
Meandu mine delivers approximately 5.5 million tpy of product coal to the adjacent Tarong and Tarong North power stations.
Downer has been providing mining services at Meandu since January 2013 and the completion date for the original contract was June 2018.
The Chief Executive of Downer, Grant Fenn, said the contract extension reflected Downer’s strong performance and its ongoing commitment to deliver cost savings and operational improvements at the mine.
Edited from press release by Angharad Lock
Piyush Goyal, the Indian Minister for Power, Coal and Renewable Energy, is to add the mining portfolio to his brief, replacing current Minister for Mines, Narendra Singh Tomar.
Tomar will become the new Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj (local government), Drinking Water and Sanitation.
Paying tribute to his predecessor, Goyal said Tomar had done an “outstanding job of improving the basic infrastructure of the mining sector in the country.”
“All we have to do now is to carry his work forward,” added Goyal.
Goyal also said that he expected in the mining sector to add 1% to the country’s GDP over the next 1 – 2 years. He would also focus on increasing transparency in the sector.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
The CEO of ABP, the UK’s largest port operator, has urged the UK government to be “bold, ambitious and visionary” in its response to the British vote to leave the EU.
“What we must avoid is a timid response based on a perception that this is mostly about damage limitation,” James Cooper said in an address to MPs in Parliament. “The government must be bold, ambitious and visionary. It must look to the long term. It must focus on the opportunities, as well as the challenges.”
Cooper also stressed the importance of the UK’s maritime sector – 95% of the country’s trade is carried by sea – and said the sector stood ready to support the UK’s transition out of the EU.
“Brexit will bring new challenges, for sure. Investment decisions will be paused while people get their bearings and some may end up being cancelled. But Brexit will also bring new opportunities,” Cooper concluded. “I know we will respond positively.”
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
