Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has successfully commissioning its first 700 MW supercritical thermal unit at Bellary thermal power project (TPP) in Karnataka.
The new 700 MW rating unit has been developed by BHEL in line with market requirements. With the successful supply and execution of this 700 MW set, a new chapter has been added in the adoption and indigenous development of supercritical technology by BHEL.
The order for the Bellary project of by Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) was won by BHEL through International Competitive bidding (ICB) on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis.
This is the third unit commissioned by BHEL at Bellary, where two units of 500 MW, supplied and executed by BHEL, are already in operation.
The company has been a major partner of KPCL in the development of Karnataka’s power sector. IT has supplied and executed 3210 MW of sets in the state so far, which account for 94% of the coal-based installed capacity of KPCL.
In Karnataka, BHEL is presently executing a 2 x 800 MW supercritical thermal power project at Yeramarus and the 370 MW gas-based Yelahanka combined cycle power project (CCPP).
While, Yeramarus TPP is being set up by Raichur Power Corporation Limited (RPCL), a Joint Venture Company of BHEL and KPCL, and is in an advanced stage of commissioning; Yelahanka CCPP is the first gas-based power plant of KPCL and will be equipped with a state-of-the art fuel efficient advanced class gas turbine.
In the supercritical segment, BHEL has successfully manufactured and executed of 660 MW, 700 MW and 800 MW sets. Besides Bellary Unit-3, it has also commissioned two units of 660 MW each at Barh super thermal power plant in Bihar, one 660 MW unit each at Bara and Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh and 2 x 800 MW Boilers at Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
BHEL has commissioned 6716 MW in the current financial year.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Exxaro has announced that Mr WA (Wim) de Klerk will, after much consideration and deliberation, be stepping down as Finance Director of the company.
The company’s Board of Directors has, over a period of time, been considering his application to step down in order for him to make a lifestyle change and has approved such with effect from 31 August 2016 or an earlier date if so agreed with the Board.
Wim has been requested to, during this period, specifically assist the Chief Executive Officer to, inter alia, coordinate the process to identify and appoint a successor and assist with the transition process, assist in finalising some strategic decisions on equity investments and the new Black Economic Empowerment structure, as well as assist in concluding the negotiations on addendum 10 of the Medupi Coal Supply Agreement with Eskom Holdings SoC Ltd.
On joining Iscor in 1996, Wim, inter alia, managed Iscor Quarries and the Grootegeluk mine. He became a member of the executive team as Group General Manager: Strategy and Continuous Improvement in 1999. During his tenure at Kumba Resources Ltd, he was responsible for the mineral sands operations and after Exxaro listed in 2006 became Executive General Manager: Mineral Sands and Base Metals in 2008 until his appointment as Finance Director in 2009.
The Board has expressed their sincerest appreciation for his dedication and absolute commitment during his tenure and wish him and his family well for the future and their new endeavours.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
WASHINGTON — In a significant victory for the Obama administration, Chief Justice on Thursday refused to block an regulation limiting emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants from coal-fired power plants.
The decision comes three weeks after the full , in a highly unusual move, blocked another major Obama administration rule that would limit planet-warming greenhouse gas pollution from coal plants.
Opponents of Mr. Obama’s environmental policies were buoyed by the high court’s decision to halt the rule, known as the Clean Power Plan, reading it as a sign that the court was willing to halt other regulations while they undergo changes and review. But legal experts said the chief justice’s decision on Thursday signaled that they might not be successful in further attempts to halt environmental rules while they are still subject to legal challenges.
“This is a pretty strong way of sending a signal that the fact that the court granted a stay of the Clean Power Plan was highly extraordinary, and they don’t want to be inundated with these,” said Jeffrey Holmstead, a lawyer with the firm Bracewell and a deputy administrator of the E.P.A. in the George W. Bush administration. “I think this is Justice Roberts’s effort to say that the Clean Power Plan is an extraordinary situation.”
The order was issued solely by Chief Justice Roberts, who did not refer the question to the full court.
Chief Justice Roberts rejected an application from 20 states that said a federal appeals court in Washington had effectively thwarted their victory in the Supreme Court in June, when the high court that the E.P.A. had failed to take into account the punishing costs its mercury regulation would impose. In that 5-to-4 decision, Michigan v. Environmental Protection Agency, the Supreme Court ruled that the agency had run afoul of the by deciding to regulate the emissions without first undertaking a cost-benefit analysis to show the regulation to be “appropriate and necessary.”
“It is not rational, never mind ‘appropriate,’ to impose billions of dollars in economic costs in return for a few dollars in health or environmental benefits,” Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last month, wrote in June. “Statutory context supports this reading.”
That earlier decision did not strike down the regulation, but it did require the E.P.A. to take costs into consideration. The question before the Supreme Court on Thursday was what should happen in the meantime.
In December, a unanimous three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit allowed the mercury regulation to stay in place while the agency completed its review, noting that it “is on track to issue a final finding” by April 15.
In their Supreme Court brief, the states said blocking the mercury regulation “is even more warranted” than the halt to the climate change plan, since the Supreme Court had already decided that the agency had exceeded its authority.
The mercury regulation, the states said, “has imposed literally billions of dollars of compliance costs on utilities.”
But Mr. Holmstead and other experts noted that blocking the mercury rule would have had little practical impact, since most electric utilities have already put it into effect. Industry groups estimate that it has already led to the closing of about 100 coal-fired power plants. The E.P.A. has estimated that the rule will impose about $9.6 billion annually in costs to industry as they either clean up or close down coal plants.
Melissa Harrison, a spokeswoman for the E.P.A., said the administration was “very pleased” with Chief Justice Roberts’s decision.
The Obama administration has put forth nearly half a dozen major rules aimed at cutting coal pollution, and critics, who have called them a “war on coal,” have sought to block them in the courts.
But Thursday’s decision is an indication that Justice Scalia’s death has altered the balance of power on the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court had voted 5 to 4 on the climate change stay, issued Feb. 9. Justice Scalia was in the majority, and his vote in that case was one of the last he cast before he died.
Marubeni Corp. and El Sewedy Electric Co. S.A.E (El Sewedy) have completed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Egyptian Electricity Holding Co. (EEHC) in relation to a feasibility study of the construction of an ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plant in the Arab Republic of Egypt.
The Egyptian government has announced a policy to install approximately 12.5 GW worth of new coal-fired power plants by 2022 in order to diversify energy resources. Under this MoU, Marubeni and El Sewedy will conduct a feasibility study for constructing a high-efficiency ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plant in the West Mattrouh region.
Marubeni has a track record in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts of more than 100 GW around the world, of which coal-fired power plant accounts for 40G MW.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Tanzania-focused mineral development and exploration company, Kibo Mining, has secured a £1.5 million loan facility from Sanderson Capital Partners. Kibo is currently developing the Mbeya coal-to-power project (MCPP) in Tanzania, a 250 – 350 MW mine-mouth coal-fired power plant.
“The MCPP is progressing at an expeditious pace. We are now only a few months away from expected completion of the definitive feasibility studies for the mining and power elements […] and at an advanced stage with the MCPP commercial arrangements and agreements,” said Louis Coetzee, CEO of Kibo Mining.
“Sustaining and maintaining this momentum is crucial to successfully expediting the completion of the final MCPP development phase, with funding certainty and stability over the next six months a key factor in this,” Coetzee continued.
The new funding from Sanderson will provide this funding certainty, Coetzee continued, and with it in place “we can focus out attention on an exciting six months ahead to prove and deliver the MCPP as a project with solid, robust and bankable credentials.”
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Sandvik Mining and Schenck Process have signed a global partnership agreement, which will provide increased crushing circuit productivity for Schenck Process double and single deck high-capacity banana screens and Sandvik high productivity cone crushers. It also enables a single service provider approach to support customers throughout the entire plant life cycle.
It is reported that this cooperation provides in-depth understanding of mining customers’ equipment, together with process knowledge will enable them to raise their crushing plant performance.
“This partnership agreement allows our customers to raise their overall crushing and screening plant productivity by focusing on process efficiency in its entirety, as opposed to individual pieces of equipment,” commented Mary Verschuer, President Minerals & Metals, Schenck Process Group. “Mid-tier miners are often looking for a system solution across the crushing circuit and with this partnership they will benefit from the best solutions from the Sandvik and Schenck Process product line in a single offering.”
The agreement covers both new crushing and screening plants and replacements.
“In terms of replacements, Sandvik’s high productivity cone crushers and Schenck Process’s high capacity banana screens have a compact footprint, thus allowing for cost effective upgrades using existing infrastructure. 20 – 30% productivity increases can be achieved within the existing infrastructure,” said Jonas Olsson, Vice President Crushing and Screening, Sandvik Mining.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Glencore, the world’s fourth-largest diversified miner with a market capitalisation of US$247 billion, announced a US$4.96 billion loss in 2015 as EBITDA slumped by about a third to US$8.69 billion on the back of “substantially weaker commodity prices,” the company said in its preliminary results report.
The company also recognised significant impairment charges on its Koniambo nickel and Chad oil assets, as well as a US$1.03 billion loss related to its cessation of control of the Optimum Coal asset in South Africa, which was placed in business rescue proceedings in August 2015 and subsequently sold.
EBITDA from its Energy Products business, which includes its coal businesses, as well as its oil assets, was down 9% to US$3.1 billion. Thermal coal production fell 2% to 93.9 million t in 2015, while metallurgical coal production was down by 24% at 2.5 million t.
“The decline in Chinese import demand was the key feature of the seaborne thermal coal market in 2015,” the company, which is responsible for about a third of all seaborne traded thermal coal, said. “Lower economic growth, some shift away from manufacturing, rising hydro and nuclear power supply and increased domestic coal supply for coastal ultra-high voltage transmission were all important factors that led to such a decline.”
Despite this, supply from the company’s main geographical regions – Australia, South Africa and Colombia – remained relatively steady with low-energy Indonesian coal taking the brunt of the impact from falling Chinese demand. Overall, the company’s coal production was 131.5 billion t, down 10% from 146.3 million in 2014. The company is expecting another – albeit smaller – fall in production in 2016 with 2016 guidance of 127 – 133 million t.
Coal EBITDA fell 14% to US$2.08 billion with all segments affected. Australian thermal coal earnings held up best, however, falling only 5% to US$1.16 billion.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Steve Doyle
A few coal facts: 8.2 billion tpy of production; 1.3 billion tpy of seaborne-traded coal; 30% of the world’s energy mix; a necessary ingredient for making primary steel; the least expensive fossil fuel for generating electricity (fossil fuels provide 67% of global electricity). In a perfect world, coal producers with reasonable cost profiles should receive a risk-adjusted return on capital. However, even companies on the low end of the global cost curve aren’t currently covering their all-in costs.
How did a sector as capital-intensive as coal wind up in this predicament?
China’s rapid transition from one of the world’s top coal exporters to its biggest importer created a multi-year supply imbalance that resulted in higher prices. Severe weather events in Australia (Big Wet I in 2007/2008 and Big Wet II in 2010/2011) accentuated the upward price momentum. Overly optimistic expectations of future prices prompted the cash-rich coal companies to invest heavily in new operations and to expand through acquisitions.
China’s coal industry also reacted to the high prices by over-investing, leaving less room for thermal and metallurgical coal imports. To make matters worse, waves of new hydroelectricity displaced coal demand.
China could have taken advantage of its economic prosperity to shutter surplus steel production, but instead it ignored the problem until it was too late. It now forces its surplus steel and coke production into the seaborne market displacing metallurgical coal exports from the traditional exporting countries. According to Doyle Trading Consultants, when factoring in China’s metallurgical coal imports and the impact of China’s steel and coke exports, China is now an annual net exporter of nearly 33 million t!
When the music stopped, investment in new production came to an abrupt standstill, but many coal projects that were too far along to stop came online, further depressing prices. Australian producers dramatically lowered costs by conventional ‘belt-tightening’, as well as by pumping-up the volume in order to lower unit costs. This had a disastrous effect on prices. The market found itself oversupplied by highly-leveraged coal companies, many of whom have already declared bankruptcy.
During much of the price decline, the non-US exporters were partially sheltered by significant depreciation of their home currencies. In spite of Russia’s relatively high mining costs, its exports remained competitive thanks to a 62.4% depreciation of the ruble versus the US$ dollar over the past three years. In comparison, the Australian dollar and the Indonesian rupial ‘only’ depreciated by 32.6% and 30.1%, respectively. However, this helpful trend has tailed off. In the past six months, the Australian dollar depreciated by 1.4%, the Indonesian rupial 1.4% and the Russian ruble 12.6%.
The coal sector is in the intensive care unit, but what is the prognosis? I defer to the trader’s familiar adage: low prices are the cure for low prices. Low prices will force the supply curve to drop below the demand curve. Higher prices will be needed to rebalance the scale. Below are just a few of the drivers that I believe will collectively support the coal sector’s rebound.
China: China announced its intent to close up to 150 million t of steel production, 70 million t of coke production and unquantified coal production (‘large scale’). Unlike prior announcements that were mostly disregarded in the provinces, this one comes with funds to mitigate the social impact on as many as one million impacted workers. Bottom line: fewer steel and coke exports, and more room for coal imports, which China requires to keep its domestic coal market in check.
Coal supply and depletion: The global project pipeline has been bone dry for a couple of years. Meanwhile, existing operations are gradually depleting their dedicated reserves. There have been numerous cutbacks, voluntary closures and involuntary closures. The U. has been leading the pack, but the closures in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Indonesia, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK have been meaningful. During this period, minor exporting countries, such as Vietnam, have turned into net importers and the major future exporters, such as Mongolia, have failed to materialise. When the demand curve crosses the supply curve, the response time will be longer than any time in recent memory.
Weather events: We’re coming off a strong El Niño (dry), which could very well flip into a La Niña (wet). It has been more than five years since the last Big Wet in Australia, whose market share is greater than it was back then, while its volume-driven cost reduction strategy means its supply chain is running close to capacity. Any weather ‘glitch’ could easily snowball into a major shortage.
Global coal demand: Intact with the following caveats:
- China’s demand for imports rebounds to a level required to keep its domestic coal prices in check.
- China follows through on steel and coke closures, obviating the need to dump into the seaborne market.
- India remains unable to rely on its low-quality coal reserves to supply its total demand.
- Rest of Asia continues on track with its strategy to electrify using coal-fired generation.
US as a swing supplier: The US coal sector has declined dramatically – from 900 million t in 2014 to 650 million t in 2016 (with further cutbacks to come). The surviving industry has never been more competitive and is comprised mostly of super-sized open-pit mines or highly-mechanised longwall operations. US coal exports will be 48 million t in 2016 (vs 112 million t in 2012). Theoretically, the US can still serve as a swing supplier to the seaborne market, but global buyers will have to bid against domestic utilities. As US demand for natural gas from the industrial, export and transportation sectors push natgas prices higher, US coal plants could recapture some of their lost market share. The seaborne market could find itself in an interesting bidding war for limited coal supply.
Crude oil: Welcome to coal’s painful world! Crude oil in the US$30s is unsustainable, but in the interim it serves as a nice boost to the global economy. More than two trillion dollars are shifting annually into the wallets of the consuming countries. The oil exporting countries will still spend, albeit not as much, by drawing down their reserves and/or leaning on creditors to bridge their fiscal gaps.
Foreign exchange: As I mentioned, the depreciation of the non-US-dollar currencies have flattened. Further US-dollar-denominated price declines will encourage more cutbacks in non US production.
Global economy: The trend is your friend. Economic cycles notwithstanding, we have experienced global economic growth since the dawn of the industrial revolution. The world comprises about 1.3 billion ‘haves’ and 6 billion ‘have nots’. The urbanisation and electrification necessary to change this mix for the better will require more coal, more cement and more steel.
Climate change policy: The climate change winds are shifting. Rampant data-manipulation signals desperation about this ‘settled science’. The wealthier economies are suffering from their unsustainably expensive renewable energy mandates that have had minimal impact on global CO2 concentrations. The climate change policymakers in the wealthy countries might continue to ‘talk the talk’, but the rest of the world is not ‘walking the walk’.
In conclusion, the coal sector plays a critical role in the global economy and requires much higher prices to sustainably supply long-term demand. Commodity markets typically soar like a rocket and fall like a feather. A rebound is inevitable. The unanswerable question is: how imminent? I expect a volatile rocket to appear within the next two years.
About the author: Steve Doyle has over 30 yr of experience in the coal trading business, founding Doyle Trading Consultants in 2002. He is now President of BtuBarron LLC.
Australian coal company, Yancoal, is to put its Donaldson operation – which includes the Abel underground coal mine – into care and maintenance in June 2016, the company said in a recent press release, following a reduction in mining activities and the start of new feasibility studies.
“The move to care and maintenance is in response to ongoing global market challenges as the operation considers the future development of new underground working areas,” the company said.
The winding down of production will begin in mid-March with the move from three mining units to two at the Abel mine.
The Donaldson operation currently employs 103 people. Only 11 fulltime roles will be required to support the operation as it moves to care and maintenance and continue feasibility studies with the remaining staff offered voluntary redundancy or the opportunity to move to other Yancoal operations, where available.
“Yancoal is committed to redeploying affected Donaldson employees across its Hunter Valley underground operations where possible,” said the company. “Yancoal will continue to engage with its emloyees throughout the change in operations to ensure they understand their options and have access to redeployment, external employment, redundancy and counseling assistance services as required.”
The Abel mine produces thermal and semi-soft coking coal for export through the Port of Newcastle. In 2015, the mine producers 1.81 million t of ROM coal and 1.34 million t of saleable coal.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Edenville Energy plc, the company developing a coal-to-power project in south west Tanzania, has reported that the mining licence for its Rukwa coal deposit has been granted following its signing by Professor S Muhongo, the Tanzanian Minister of Energy and Minerals, at a televised ceremony in Dar es Salaam yesterday evening.
It was reported that this licence was to be formally released to Edenville during the week commencing 28 February 2016, after minor administrative tasks are completed.
Commenting, Rufus Short, CEO of Edenville, said: “We are delighted that the mining licence for our Rukwa coal deposit has been granted. We would particularly like to thank Professor S Muhongo and his Tanzanian government colleagues for the help and support they have provided. They have expressed the strong desire to see Edenville start producing coal in the second half of this year and have indicated their full support to progressing our Coal to Power Project to completion.”
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
BEIJING — has released new statistics indicating that it used less coal last year than in 2014, lending support to the view that the country, the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, may be reaching a peak in coal consumption.
That would be a boon for global efforts to limit , since industrial coal burning is the primary source of greenhouse gases. The new data, by the National Bureau of Statistics, said coal consumption had fallen 3.7 percent in 2015 compared with the previous year. It was the second straight year of decline, according to the bureau, which said coal use had dropped 2.9 percent in 2014.
Much of the world is watching China’s actions on carbon emissions, since it is responsible for about half of the world’s coal consumption. President Xi Jinping has said that China intends for its greenhouse gas emissions to stop growing around 2030. Some climate experts in China say the peak could come earlier, closer to 2025.
Official Chinese statistics can be unreliable, and there is evidence that officials have tried to . But they have also shown some transparency on coal consumption numbers. Last year, the government released data that annual coal consumption figures since 2000, revealing that China had burned much more coal than previously thought. Older numbers had been based on faulty data collection, particularly from small companies and factories.
Coal use in China because the country’s economic growth has slowed considerably in recent years. The government is also enacting policies to curb coal use in large population centers in eastern China, to bring down extraordinary levels of air pollution.
In a new estimate of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, a team of international researchers said China’s carbon dioxide emissions had fallen 2.5 percent in 2015 compared with 2014. Emissions in the United States, the largest emitter after China, were down 3 percent, and carbon dioxide emissions globally appeared to have dropped 0.43 percent, according to Glen Peters, a member of the team, called the Global Carbon Project.
The figures were a revision of released in December, which put the global decline in emissions for 2015 at 0.6 percent.
The across China’s coal industry suggests the country’s slowdown in coal demand and consumption is real. On Monday, the government said the coal and steel industries, which are dominated by state-owned enterprises, were expected to lay off 1.8 million workers, or about 15 percent of the work force.
Zeng Hao, a coal industry analyst in Shanxi, one of China’s biggest coal-producing provinces, said the industry did worse than expected in 2015. Coal producers were hoping for a recovery in the third quarter, but it never materialized, he said.
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The slowing economy has also left China with a . State-owned companies across China have been building many more such plants, even though existing ones have been cutting back their operating hours.
On Wednesday, Greenpeace East Asia released that said China had granted environmental permits last year for 210 new and proposed coal-fired power plants. The group’s original report, released in November, had put the number at 155. Greenpeace estimated that the 210 proposed plants would cost about $100 billion in total.
The surplus of plants is not expected to result in a big surge in coal use, since the slowing economy is the main reason consumption has fallen. But besides adding to the overcapacity problem, the glut is expected to make it harder for companies generating energy from renewable sources to earn revenue, since the coal-generated plants compete with them for contracts with the state-owned enterprises that run China’s electricity grids. The coal-fired power plants have an advantage in securing contracts and time on the grid.
“Warnings about China’s overcapacity crisis are coming in left, right and center, and yet the rate at which new coal power plants are being approved is increasing,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, a senior global coal campaigner at Greenpeace and a main author of the report. “These plants do nothing but fuel the overcapacity crisis and add huge debt burdens. It is a trend which must be halted immediately.”
On Wednesday, Todd D. Stern, the United States special envoy for climate change, who was in Beijing for talks, said that some Chinese officials had expressed concern about whether President Obama’s successor would ensure that the United States was committed to the global climate accord reached in Paris in December.
Mr. Stern said he had tried to reassure the officials. “I think it would be highly surprising to me if anybody elected were to try to pull the United States out of that,” he said at a news briefing. “Anybody doing that would just be creating a foreign policy problem.”
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Mia Li contributed research.
Foresight Energy LP, a leading producer and marketer of thermal coal, has reported that its subsidiary, Hillsboro Energy LLC is continuing its efforts to extinguish the March 2015 combustion event within Hillsboro’s Deer Run mine, near Hillsboro, Illinois.
Foresight indicated that to date, its efforts to extinguish the combustion event have been primarily directed at sealing specific areas within the mine and filling them with extinguishing agents and inert gases. Thus far, these efforts have been unsuccessful at demonstrating that the combustion event is permanently extinguished and further action is necessary.
Foresight has asked the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) for permission to take the next step of temporarily sealing the entire mine to reduce or eliminate oxygen flow paths into the mine. The company is uncertain as to when production will resume at this operation but we will continue to work closely with MSHA and the Illinois Office of Mines and Minerals Mine Safety and Training Division to ensure the safety of its employees throughout the process and to explore alternatives to safely resolving this issue.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Norfolk Southern (NS) is consolidating its three operating regions into two, effective 15 March.
The decision to further streamline railroad operations is part of the company’s ongoing execution of its five-year strategic plan, announced in December 2015, to enhance operating efficiencies, reduce costs, drive profitability and accelerate growth.
As previously announced, NS is targeting annual expense savings of US$650 million by 2020.
Under the new structure, NS’s network will be divided into Northern and Southern regions only. The Northern Region will include the Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Dearborn, Lake, and Illinois divisions. The Southern Region will include the Piedmont, Alabama, Georgia, Central, and Pocahontas divisions.
Each of the two consolidated regions will support approximately 1000 daily crew starts for long-haul train operations, connecting customers and communities to global markets with freight rail that moves consumer goods, automobiles, coal, grain, and other products that are essential to US households, businesses and industries.
“We are committed to aggressively controlling costs, while delivering the high levels of superior service that our customers value,” said Mike Wheeler, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “Consolidating our operating regions will generate productivity savings, not only through right-sizing, but also by leveraging advancements in train dispatch technologies that support more fluid and efficient movement of freight across the network. As we continue to execute on our five-year strategic plan, we are confident that these steps will make Norfolk Southern a faster, lower-cost, and more profitable railroad.”
Earlier this year, Norfolk Southern streamlined division operations by combining the former Virginia and Pocahontas divisions into a larger Pocahontas Division. This became effective 1 February, and followed other key strategic initiatives, including the reduction from three corporate office locations to two, restructuring of the Triple Crown Services subsidiary, integration of the D&H South Line to increase options for shippers, and idling of certain parts of the ‘West Virginia Secondary’ line.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Richard Goodmanson, Non-Executive Director of Rio Tinto, who joined the board in December 2004, will be retiring from the board this year.
Goodmanson will not seek re-election as a Non-Executive Director of Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Ltd and will retire from the board at the conclusion of the Rio Tinto Ltd annual general meeting in Brisbane on 5 May 2016.
Megan Clark will be appointed as Chairman of the Sustainability Committee upon Goodmanson’s retirement on 5 May 2016 and will also become a member of the Remuneration Committee with effect from 1 May 2016.
Rio Tinto Chairman Jan du Plessis commented: “I am very grateful to Richard for his considerable contribution to Rio Tinto over many years. He provided tremendous support during his tenure, notably as Chairman of the Sustainability Committee. I wish him well for the future.”
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
White Energy has announced an AUS$31.8 million loss for the six months to December 2015 after taking an almost AUS$10 million writedown on its US coal mining business, Mountainside Coal Co. (MCC). MCC operates a number of mines in Kentucky.
MCC currently mines low-ash stoker coal for the silicon smelting industry in the US, generating AUS$14.7 million in coal sale revenue for the half year. Despite this, the company reported a loss of AUS$6 million for 2H15, resulting in the company’s management scaling back coal production and reducing mining costs.
With only AUS15.4 million in cash reserves at the end of the half year, the company is facing bankruptcy unless additional funding can be raised.
The directors struck a confident note in their half-year report, however, saying they were confident that the company could raise the required cash through a variety of means including additional equity funding, third-party debt financing, the sale of assets and shareholder loans.
Despite the financial uncertainty, White Energy continued to test MCC fines at its Cessnock binderless coal briquetting (BCB) demonstration plant with the ultimate aim of constructing a BCB plant at MCC’s mining operations. According to the company, a final investment decision on the potential BCB plant will be made in the “near future” with construction taking 12 months.
Outside of the US, the company’s 51% joint venture in South Africa, River Energy JV Ltd, continues to progress a number of projects with a final decision to proceed with one project at a South African coal producer expected by 31 March.
White Energy also continues to perform due diligence work on a number of coal concessions in Indonesia, which have been identified by the company for potential acquisition.
China’s largest coal company, China Shenhua Energy Co. (Shenhua), saw a substantial increase in the amount of coal handled as its Huanghua coal port and the Shenhua dock at Tianjin port in January.
The company handled 7.6 million t at Huanghua – up from 3.2 million t in January 2015, an increase of 137.5%. Meanwhile Shenhua Tianjin coal dock handled 2.2 million t – up 83.3% from 1.2 million t.
Overall the company handled 11.7 million t of seaborne coal – up 67.1% from 7 million t in January 2016. Transportation over the company’s railroads was also up by 36.1% to 20 billion tonne km compared to 14.7 billion t km over the same period in 2015.
On the coal production side, figures were less robust with production down 3.9% at 24.7 million t. Coal sales were up 16.9%, however, at 20.7 million t compared to 17.7 million t in January 2015. Exports rose but remained negligible at 0.3 million t.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Selvi J. Jayalalithaa, handed over the Letter of Award (LoA) for setting up of the main plant package for the 2 x 800 MW Uppur supercritical thermal power project to Sh. Atul Sobti, CMD, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), in Chennai.
This was followed by the foundation stone laying ceremony of the project.
Against International Competitive Bidding (ICB), BHEL won the order for setting up the 1600 MW coal-based thermal power project with supercritical parameters, involving two units of the country’s highest rating 800 MW sets, in Tamil Nadu.
Valued at around Rs.5600 Crore, the order for the main plant package for the greenfield 2 x 800 MW Uppur supercritical thermal power project, located in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu, has been placed on BHEL by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO).
BHEL will design, engineer, manufacture, supply, erect, commission and carry out civil works for the main plant package. The key equipment for the contract will be manufactured at BHEL’s Trichy, Haridwar, Bhopal, Ranipet, Hyderabad, Jhansi, Thirumayam and Bangalore plants, while the company’s Power Sector – Southern Region shall be responsible for civil works and erection/ commissioning of the equipment.
The project is expected be commissioned by September 2019 and the power generated from the project will help encourage growth in Tamil Nadu and provide easy access to electricity to the people of the state.
This is the second 800 MW rating supercritical order awarded to BHEL from TANGEDCO in less than a month, reinforcing BHEL’s position at the forefront of the power equipment industry in India.
This order comes close on the heels of the main plant package contract for the 1 x 800 MW North Chennai supercritical TPP stage III in Tamil Nadu, also placed on BHEL by TANGEDCO, last month.
BHEL now has a 83% share in TANGEDCO’s cumulative coal-based generating capacity, including two 600 MW sets commissioned in 2013 at North Chennai TPP, comprising in-house designed steam turbines, the first of their kind for both BHEL and the state of Tamil Nadu.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Hexagon Mining has introduced new functionality and enhanced performance in a bundled update of its mine planning software: MineSight.
Implicit Modeler and MineSight 3D have several new features designed to make life easier for geologists.
MS3D Version 11.0 now sees full drillhole view and model view support in the xViewer, which simplifies work with complex models and data. Millions of blocks can be displayed and managed, giving the user the flexibility to use large data quickly. The xViewer continues to push the boundaries of graphics systems, delivering the best performance possible.
Version 11 also sees a redesign of the the Drillhole Design Tool. Now, the user can store planned drillholes directly back to Torque, and start designs from both the collar and target locations. This saves time in the design process and allows the user to exploit the integration of Torque and MS3D.
Workflows are also improved. Project settings can now be set automatically from a geometry object, and viewer properties are available on a new dockable panel.
Version 1.7 of Implicit Modeler now includes the option to force a surface to snap directly to drillhole intercepts or geometry points, thus perfectly matching the input data. With a matching report to view the snapped distances, the user can feel more confident than ever in Implicit Modeler’s ability to fit the input data. The Torque 3D Points can also be used directly, meaning these 3D sample points can be used to create gradeshells or other types of surfaces.
Edited from press releases by Harleigh Hobbs
Australian coal company, Yancoal, has announced an after-tax loss of AUS$291 million on revenues of AUS$1.3 billion for the full year to 31 December. Full-year production hit 20.8 million t ROM with 15.2 million t of saleable coal. Total coal sales totaled 17.81 million t.
The company’s performance continues to reflect the low pricing environment for both thermal and metallurgical coal and comes after an AUS$ 353.5 million loss in 2014. Yancoal has also been hit by changes to Chinese coal import regulations.
In response, the company said it was continuing to restructure its underground mines and consolidate its back office and shared services, as well as managing its take-or-pay logistics arrangements and maximising blending opportunities to boost yields.
“Via the restructuring of our undergrounds and continued improvement in fleet efficiencies and overburden managements at out open cuts, we have achieved significant cost savings on the year prior and met our forecast production targets,” said Yancoal’s CEO, Reinhold Schmidt.
“Moving forward, we remain focused on new market growth strategies and the development of our existing brownfield project pipeline,” Schmidt continued, including the development of the company’s Moorlarben asset in the Western Coalfields of New South Wales. It is currently developing the Moorlarben Stage Two asset.
“With the ongoing support of our major shareholders, we continue to progress the development of the low-cost high-quality Moorlarben asset, while developing new blending opportunities across our New South Wales mines to maximise yields” Schmidt said.
The company continues to expect prices for metallurgical and thermal coal to remain low through 2016. It expects production to fall to 13.5 million t this year with cost reductions a priority across operations.
Yancoal is majority owned by Chinese coal company, Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. Ltd, and owns seven producing mines and a number of development assets across Queensland and New South Wales.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
New Hope Corp.’s saleable coal production for the three months to 31 January fell 15.9% on the same period the year before to 1.167 million t, according to its latest quarterly activity reports, as a result of bad weather impacting mine sequencing.
Sales volumes were also down 10% at 1.356 million t as typhoons delayed vessels delivering coal to the company’s customers in Asia.
New Hope has just completed the acquisition of a 40% interest in the Bengalla thermal coal mine in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales from Rio Tinto for US$616.7 million.
The acquisition will bring in over 2.5 million tpy of additional coal production and provide an immediate boost to New Hope’s operational and financial performance, the company said.
The Bengalla opencast coal mine produced more than 8.3 million t of thermal coal for export in 2015. The mine has a JORC reserve of 269 million t of ROM coal as at 31 December 2014.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Rio Tinto has completed the sale of its 40% interest in the Bengalla coal Joint Venture in Australia to New Hope Corporation Limited for US$616.7 million.
Rio Tinto has reported that is has now announced or completed US$4.7 billion of divestments since January 2013.
According to the global mining giant, a change to the ownership structure of Coal & Allied completed on 3 February 2016 helped enable this transaction.
As a 100% owner of Coal & Allied Rio receives all consideration associated with the sale of Rio Tinto’s interest in the Bengalla Joint Venture; holds a 67.6% interest with management rights in the Hunter Valley Operations mine; holds interests of 80% and 55.6% respectively, with management rights, in the integrated Mount Thorley and Warkworth operations; and currently holds 100% interest in the Mount Pleasant project. On 27 January, Rio Tinto announced it had reached a binding agreement for the sale of Mount Pleasant to MACH Energy Australia for US$224 million plus royalties. The sale is expected to close in the second half of 2016.
Mitsubishi Development has moved from holding a 20% stake in Coal & Allied to holding a direct 32.4% stake in the Hunter Valley Operations mine.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
CONSOL Energy Inc. has entered into an agreement for the sale of its Buchanan mine in southwestern Virginia and certain other metallurgical coal reserves to Coronado IV LLC for total consideration to CONSOL of US$420 million, including US$398 million cash payable at the closing.
The transaction is not subject to a financing condition and is being funded by Energy and Minerals Group (EMG), which is the management company for a series of specialised private equity funds.
“This is another significant event in the execution of CONSOL Energy’s strategy, as well as a meaningful step in continuing to strengthen our balance sheet,” said Nicholas J. DeIuliis, President and CEO. “The Buchanan mine fits into Coronado’s portfolio as a pure play metallurgical coal producer, and, in the end, this transaction bolsters the strategic position of both companies.”
Also included in the transaction are CONSOL Energy’s idled Amonate mine in southern West Virginia and southwestern Virginia, its greenfield Russell County coal reserves in southwestern Virginia and its greenfield Pangburn-Shaner-Fallowfield coal reserves in southwestern Pennsylvania.
The transaction includes approximately 400 million short t of proved coal reserves, which includes approximately 88 million short t associated with the Buchanan mine.
The transaction does not include any gas rights, and CONSOL will retain the right to extract and sell gas at the mines and other properties.
The agreement contains customary representations, warranties and covenants, among other provisions, including a customary escrow provision. The completion of the sale is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals. The final purchase price is subject to a limited working capital adjustment.
CONSOL expects to use transaction proceeds in order to pay down debt. The transaction is expected to close in 1Q16.
Also in conjunction with the sale, CONSOL Energy is realigning its dividend policy to further reflect the company’s increased emphasis on growth. Beginning with the first declared quarterly dividend after the transaction closes, CONSOL Energy intends to suspend its regular quarterly dividend.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
South32 has announced plans to cut at least 300 jobs at its Illawarra Metallurgical Coal operations in Australia as part of plans to reorganise the mining complex into two operations. The cuts, which are due by the end of this financial year (June 2016), will reduce headcount at Illawarra by 14% compared to the end of the 2015 financial year.
The company is also cutting sustaining capital investment and underground development by 58% in the next financial year to June 2017, after the completion of the Appin Area 9 Project next month.
Meanwhile, production is expected to increase to about 9.5 million t by the end of the next financial year on the back of an increase in longwall utilisation at the Appin and Dendrobium mines.
Production from Illawara Metallurgical Coal fell 17% to 3.96 million t in the half year to December 2015 as difficult geological conditions and a longwall move hit output. With further longwall moves expected in 1Q16, the company lowered its production forecast for the full financial year by 7% to 8.25 million t.
“The refinement of our regional operating model allows us to remove additional layers of management, while further aggregating functional support,” said South32’s CEO, Graham Kerr, in a statement. “As a result we expect another significant increase in labour productivity and reduction in cash costs.”
Separately, the company announced a US$1.7 billion loss on the back of previously-announced writedowns to its manganese and South African thermal coal businesses.
Production of thermal coal was steady with the previous year at 16.4 million t as operational efficiencies at Khutala underground mine and the Wolvebrans Middelburg Complex mitigated the impact of the planned closure of the Khutala opencast mine. Full year guidance remains unchanged at 32 million t.
Lower commodity prices hit the company’s earnings with lower metallurgical coal prices reducing revenue by US$185 million and lower thermal coal prices reducing revenue by US$167 million. Overall, weakness in commodity prices reduced revenues by US$ 1 billion over the six months to December 2015.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Resource Generation has appointed Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) as lead arranger and co-lender for the financing of its Boikarabelo coal mine project in South Africa.
The agreement follows a review of the project and various financing options by interim CEO Rob Lowe and from the board’s Technical Committee.
The report from the technical committee also suggested changes to the recommended development of the Boikarabelo mine, including a revised mining plan based on selective mining and in-pit dumping, the appointment of a small number of EPC contractors to undertake mine construction, managed by a small in-house specialist team, and the appointment of a contract miner.
“The work undertaken by the Technical Committee has given the board confidence in the execution of the project post-completion of the debt funding and the economic viability of the project after first production of coal,” said Danis Gately, Resource Generation’s Chairman.
Additionally, the board approved a two-year contract with Lowe to continue as CEO and approved to appointment of Brendan O’Regan as Chief Financial Officer.
Edited by Jonathan Rowland.
Westmoreland Coal Co. has increased the size of its Board of Directors from 8 to 9 directors following the 2016 Annual Meeting and announced several changes to its Board of Directors designed to bring additional industry expertise and shareholder representation.
Richard Klingaman, current Chairman of the Board, will retire from the Westmoreland Board when his current term expires at the Annual Meeting. Klingaman has served on the Board since 2006.
Replacing Klingaman and filling the additional director position created through the expansion of the Board, Robert Flexon and Robert Tinstman have been nominated by the Board of Directors to stand for election as part of Westmoreland’s slate of director nominees at the Annual Meeting.
Flexon, Chief Executive Officer of Dynegy Inc., leads a dynamic and growing power generation company that currently runs 26 000 MW of power generation capacity. Tinstman, retired CEO of Morrison Knudsen, brings extensive operational and executive experience in the mining and construction industry to the Board.Jan Packwood, Vice Chairman, speaking on behalf of the Board of Directors, said: “As Chairman of the Board, Dick Klingaman played a pivotal role in helping to lay the foundation for the future of Westmoreland. With strong and thoughtful leadership, Dick oversaw the successful restructuring of the company beginning in 2007 and brought Westmoreland to a place of financial stability and growth. On behalf of the Board, employees and shareholders, we are extremely grateful for his many significant contributions to Westmoreland and wish him the best in his retirement.”
Kevin Paprzycki, Chief Executive Officer, noted: “We are pleased to nominate Robert Flexon and Robert Tinstman to serve on our Board of Directors. Bob Flexon brings extensive capital markets experience to the Board and a deep understanding of the entire power generation sector. Bob Tinstman’s mining services experience and public company leadership adds a valuable perspective to our Board. We look forward to benefiting from their insights and judgment as we continue to execute on our business model.”
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Atrum Coal NL has received very encouraging anthracite quality results from drilling at its JORC 1.57 billion t Groundhog Anthracite Project’s (Groundhog) Eastern Resource block, in British Columbia, Canada.
The Duke E seam, one of the primary target seams for the underground mines designed in the Groundhog north mining complex, has returned yields averaging above 80%, producing a premium 10% ash ultra-high grade anthracite. This has stimulated a further design of pits in the Eastern Block where these higher yields occur.
The company’s previous economic analysis has been based on Duke E yields of 60% for the 10% ash product. According to Atrum, an increase in yield will have a positive impact on the economics of the project, which will be reflected in the Groundhog’s pre-feasibility study (PFS).
Robert Bell, Executive Chairman, commented: “As we gain a greater understanding of the Groundhog resource base, we increase the likelihood of designing mines with both reduced operating and capital costs. The delineation of the Duke E seam in the Eastern Resource block with much higher washing yields is an encouraging result, and is likely to strongly influence our mine planning and development scenarios.”
“Taking the average yield of the Duke E from 60%, to above 80% could result in a significant reduction in the total cost of production as ROM coal volumes are significantly reduced to produce the same volume of premium product. Furthermore, the Duke E in the Eastern Resource block is shallowly emplaced, with average depths less than 150 m, and it is consistently >2 m thick – an ideal mining height underground,” Bell continued. “Moving the yield from 60% to 80% has potential to reduce the ex-mine cost by 20% – 25%, and the FOB cash cost by 10% – 15% for our primary export product, a low-ash, ultra-high grade anthracite, which is in short supply on global markets.”
Atrum has reported that recent field mapping led to the discovery of additional outcropping anthracite. Geological interpretation, sampling and coinciding quality results validated the outcrop as the Duke E seam.
The company is currently re-working a PFS that includes underground mines in the Discovery B and Duke E horizons, and low-cost highwall options in the Discovery B seam. The improved float sink yields are being investigated, and the coal quality database divided into zones of geological influence, termed the Eastern Resource block and the Western Resource block. The quality results have been sent to third party consultants to undertake wash plant simulations to predict primary and secondary yields from the designed washery.
According to Atrum, if these simulations return expected results of primary yields for the Duke E seam of between 75% and 80%, it has the potential to reduce the overall cost of production from the Duke E seam by 10% –15%. Furthermore, these yields come from the Duke E seam at average depths of under 150 m, which has the potential to significantly reduce the capital cost to access the Duke E seam underground. The company has identified two suitable entries accessing the seam at depths of ~40 m, significantly shallower than previously planned.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Due to continued market weakening, Bowie Resource Partners, LLC’s (BRP) wholly owned subsidiary, Bowie Resources LLC is going to idle its Bowie #2 mine near Paonia, Colorado, US. The mine will remain idle while the market for Bowie #2 coal is evaluated.
The Bowie #2 mine currently employs 108 full time employees and 1 contractor.
“Some of the affected employees will be relocated where possible to fill vacancies in other parts of the business; however, layoffs are unfortunately unavoidable,” said Gene E. DiClaudio, BRP’s Chief Operating Officer.
It is anticipated that 68 full time positions will be eliminated.
BRP owns and operates three underground coal mines in Utah and one underground coal mine in Colorado and is the leading western bituminous coal producer, with 14 million short t of coal sales in the 2015 calendar year.
BRP’s mines produce clean-burning, low-sulfur thermal coal primarily for consumption by domestic power generators in Utah.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Gobi Coal & Energy (Gobi Coal) has announced its ongoing strategic initiative to expand across the energy resources value chain into hard coking coal, coking coal mine consolidation, and graphite and uranium development and mining both inside and outside of Mongolia.
During 2015, Gobi Coal successfully completed a drilling programme at its primary coking coal mine at Shinejinst, which consisted of a total of 637.3 m of drilling comprised of 8 diamond core boreholes that enlarged the deposit area to the southeast with average coal thickness of 9.3 m.
One hole returned an exceptional coal seam of 44 m in thickness with low volatile materials. 76 coal quality samples were obtained in 2015 and submitted to a laboratory for testing with subsequent results confirming hard coking coal properties and the potential for a new sub-basin at Shinejinst.
Successful water testing confirmed that the area has significant water potential, which is important for future mine development.
During 2014 and 2015, Gobi Coal engaged in detailed analyses of, and negotiations with, several coking coal companies throughout Mongolia as part of a broader consolidation strategy. The aim is to build economies of scale and pricing power for the export of coking coal into China from southwest Mongolia at Ceke where pricing is significantly below international benchmarks. Negotiations are ongoing and will continue during 2016 in relation to Gobi Coal’s mine at Shinejinst.
At the start of 2015, Gobi Coal analysed numerous uranium acquisition opportunities with a focus on the China market. China has a reported 30 reactors in operation, with 24 new reactors under construction, another 40 planned, and 136 proposed which will result in a three-fold increase in its nuclear capacity by 2020 – 2021. Reactors in operation worldwide are already consuming in excess of 10 000 tpy of uranium more than current global mine production capacity. This supply-demand imbalance is expected to grow sharply as China reactors enter operation with each new reactor requiring this amount to commence operation and sustain the plant operation for the first few years of use. Gobi Coal is currently in negotiations regarding a potential stock acquisition of a promising uranium property in Mongolia.
In addition, Gobi Coal has reviewed several high grade graphite mining investment and acquisition opportunities worldwide. The graphite market offers an opportunity for Gobi Coal to diversify into ‘new energy’ mining resources that are experiencing robust and increasing demand in the market as a result of growing lithium battery use globally, and specialised electronic and industrial products. Demand for jumbo flake size graphite is expected to experience the majority of growth in market demand and pricing. Gobi Coal is now in the process of negotiating strategic equity investments into pre-production stage graphite mining companies in Africa.
Over the past two years, Gobi Coal has successfully preserved its coal assets during an unusually weak metallurgical coal market, while aggressively working to expand across the energy resources value chain inside and outside of Mongolia. The company has maintained negligible debt and was recently awarded US$11.5 million, plus costs and continuing interest and damages, by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre for defaulted loans due to the company.
Gobi Coal Chairman Mohammed Munshi stated: “We are excited about the progress our company has achieved since 2014 towards expanding into other energy resources in a weak coal price environment. Strong balance sheet management and highly diligent analysis of expansion opportunities across energy resources will create significant value for Gobi Coal and its shareholders in the coming years. We are thankful for the patience and exceptional strategic support and involvement of our major sovereign fund shareholder since 2014 towards expanding our business. We anticipate that the 2016 calendar year will be very busy with many new milestones to be achieved.”
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
To the Editor:
As “” (editorial, Feb. 16) explains, mountaintop removal coal mining continues to devastate Appalachia. More than 500 mountains have been blown up, and more than 2,000 miles of streams have been buried because of inadequate regulations and lax state enforcement.
In fact, mountaintop removal is moving closer to communities as the industry searches out ever-dwindling coal seams, and residents continue to suffer from a multitude of health effects related to mining pollution, not to mention dire economic conditions.
The coal industry is experiencing a permanent decline. As Appalachian communities respond to this reality and work to diversify their economies, we must preserve the region’s water resources and other natural assets essential to that goal. The Interior Department’s proposed to update mining regulations could be a major step in that direction.
But unless the department has the courage to issue a strong rule later this year that reflects the most current science, achieving a prosperous future here will be all but impossible.
TOM CORMONS
Executive Director
Appalachian Voices
Charlottesville, Va.
Coal power
- Doosan Power Systems India has received the Notice of Award for a coal-fired project in India worth US$294.35 million from the National Thermal Power Corp.
- GE has announced that it will supply its advanced wastewater treatment equipment for an upgrade of Indianapolis Power & Light Company’s Petersburg Generating Station.
- Tata Power, through its joint venture company Industrial Energy Ltd, has synchronised the second 67.5 MW Unit of its 3 x 67.5 MW IEL Kalinganagar project.
- At Public Service Company of Oklahoma’s Northeastern station in Oologah, the plant’s coal-fired unit 3 has commenced operation with newly added emissions reducing equipment.
- B&W wins a US$18 million contract to engineer, manufacture and install a power plant replacement reheater at Xcel Energy’s Pawnee generating station.
Project updates
- Kibo Mining continues to attract strong Tanzanian government support for the Mbeya coal to power project.
- Linc Energy and PT Sugico Graha sign agreements to develop commercial underground coal gasification projects in Indonesia.
Corporate affairs
- Caterpillar Inc. has reported that Doug Hoerr is to become Vice President with responsibility for the Material Handling & Underground Division.
- Caterpillar has also announced officer retirements and further consolidation of divisions.
- The Timken Co. appoints Roellgen, Ruel and Connors to Executive Sales and Marketing roles.
- Karen Peetz resigns from SunCoke Energy’s Board of Directors and the company make two new additions to the board.
- Siemens and thyssenkrupp renew their collaboration for conveying system solutions in the mining industry for another five years.
Restructuring and refocusing
- BHP Billiton makes new operating model to increase efficiency and accelerate productivity.
- Orica Ltd has completed the restructuring of its Minova group as a stand-alone business unit dedicated to ground control solutions for the mining, geotechnical and construction industries.
- Teck Resources has restructured its senior management following a number of retirements of senior executives.
Acquisitions
Financial and operational results
- New World Resources Plc has released its financial and operating results for 2015.
- Noble Group Ltd has warned it is expecting a net loss for 4Q15 of approximately US$1.2 billion for 4Q15 due to falling coal prices.
- Vale reports its coal production results for 4Q15 and 2015 are down compared to last year.
- Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd has released its financial results for 2015.
Not to be missed …
- Researchers at the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory are studying the uses of copper in combatting climate change.
- Opening arguments have been presented to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit in the legal challenge to the US Clean Power Plan.
- According to a US EIA report, coal consumption in the electric power sector decreased 18% from 2008 to 2014 in the US yet coal shipments made either exclusively or partly by rail has remained near 70%.
According to a new report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), US electric power generators consumed 740 million short t of coal in 2015, fuelling about one-third of total electric power generation and accounting for 92% of all coal consumed in the US. Nearly 70% of all coal used by power plants to generate electricity was shipped either completely or in part by rail. The rest was transported by waterway, truck, or – for power plants located near a coal mine – by conveyor.
The distribution of coal transit modes varies from year to year. Factors that can affect both the amount and type of coal used by power plants include the adjustment of coal requirements by plant operators, the installation of flue gas desulfurisation units that widens the range of coals a plant is able to burn and changes in regional coal prices.
Although coal consumption in the electric power sector decreased 18% from 2008 (when US coal production peaked) to 2014, the share of coal shipments made either exclusively or in part by rail has remained near 70%. Over this same period, the share of coal shipments made by river barge increased from 7% to 12%. This increase in barge traffic coincides with the growth of coal produced in the Illinois Basin, which relies on shipments along the Ohio River and its tributaries for a significant portion of its production. Shipments made by nonriver barge waterways, slurry pipeline, tidewater piers and coastal ports fell from 7% to 1%. Decreases in coal transportation by these modes can be attributed to increases in the transport costs of these methods, as well as the retirement of many generating facilities that received coal by these methods.
The cost of transporting coal can vary greatly along different routes. Factors affecting coal transport costs include route length, availability of transport mode and supply source options, and the competition between coal and other commodities for transport.
The EIA’s updated summary of coal transportation rates through 2014 shows the average real costs per ton of transporting coal from mines to power plants, as well as transport costs from basin to state and state to state for each transport mode, based on data reported by plant owners and operators to the EIA on the Power Plant Operations Report.
The real delivered cost of coal (commodity cost and transportation cost) remained relatively unchanged from 2013 to 2014 (the latest available data on coal shipment rates), increasing only slightly from US$47.66/short t to US$47.73/short t. However, the average transportation cost increased in 2014, balancing out a decrease in the commodity cost of coal. The net result showed transportation costs accounting for 39% of the total delivered cost of coal in 2014, the highest percentage since the EIA began publishing transportation rate data.
The average cost to transport coal by all modes to electric power plants has increased 12% since 2008. Most of the price increase is a result of increases in the cost to ship coal by rail, which rose 14% over this period. In contrast, the cost of shipping by river barge and truck declined by 18% and 7%, respectively, since 2008.
Edited from US EIA by Harleigh Hobbs
Joy Global is a 2016 recipient of the Gold Well Workplace Award from the Wellness Council of America.
The Well Workplace Awards recognise the nation’s leaders in corporate health by monitoring their adherence to a rigorous set of criteria outlined in WELCOA’s seven benchmarks to a result-oriented Well Workplace. This is the third time Joy Global has been included on the list of “America’s Healthiest Companies” since the programme was implemented in 1991.
Joy Global earned a Gold award by successfully building comprehensive worksite wellness initiatives and demonstrating concrete results. The company’s efforts to support employees’ health include: onsite biometric screenings and flu shots, a tobacco cessation programme, and physical activity and weight loss programmes.
“Our employees are a valued and essential part of our commitment to leading the mining industry in service and performance,” said Johan Maritz, Executive Vice President – Human Resources at Joy Global. “We are honoured to be recognised for efforts that we feel are essential to supporting our employees’ wellbeing.”
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Kibo Mining plc, the Tanzania focused mineral exploration and development company, continues to attract strong Tanzanian government support for the Mbeya coal to power project (MCPP).
Kibo has attended a keep meeting Tanzania Minister of Energy and Minerals discussing the MCPP.
This follows a successful meeting between Kibo CEO Louis Coetzee and Tanzania’s Minister of Energy and Minerals (MEM), Hon. Professor Sospeter Muhongo, and his team.
The meeting took place on request of the Minister and updated the MEM on progress with the MCPP.
Attendees of the meeting included the National Development Corporation (NDC), State Mining Corp. (STAMICO), Tanzania Electrical Supply Co. Ltd (TANESCO) and senior staff from the MEM.
Louis Coetzee, CEO of Kibo Mining, said: “My latest meeting with the Hon. Professor Sospeter Muhongo and his team was pivotal in the ongoing development of the Mbeya project. As progress on the overall feasibility work for the project continues at pace, it is highly encouraging to receive continued support from the Tanzanian government.”
“During the meeting the Hon. Professor Sospeter Muhongo reiterated Tanzania’s urgent requirement for a reliable supply of base load power. Emphasising that power is at the heart of realising a stable economy, Professor Sospeter Muhongo argued that in order to meet the nation’s 2025 goal of establishing a middle class society, the government must work in close cooperation with projects, such as the MCPP, and requested Kibo to do everything possible to fast track the project.”
Coetzee concluded: “The Mbeya project represents a significant power opportunity for Tanzania, and continued support from the government is key to achieving our ambitious timescale with the first phase of production, 300 MW, scheduled for 2019. As we have done throughout our feasibility work thus far, we look forward to working closely and cooperatively with the MEM and all stakeholders to ensure the Mbeya project does not experience unnecessary delays.”
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Doosan Power Systems India (DPSI), Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction’s local unit in India, has received the NOA (Notice of Award) for a coal-fired project worth 350 billion won (US$294.35 million) from the National Thermal Power Corp. (NTPC), India’s state-run thermal power company.
DPSI will control the engineering, procurement and construction, and comprehensively carry out the design, production and installation of three 660 MW-class boilers for the Barh Super thermal power plant in the state of Bihar in Northeast India. The project is scheduled for completion by November 2018.
“The localisation marketing activities we’ve conducted through our local business have helped us to win new orders in quick succession. As the Indian power market is expected to see continued growth, we are expecting additional orders,” commented Changseob Son, head of DPSI.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
GE has announced that it will supply its advanced wastewater treatment equipment for an upgrade of Indianapolis Power & Light Company’s (IPL) Petersburg Generating Station. GE will provide its brine concentration technology to treat flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) wastewater discharge. This will enable IPL to meet its US Environmental Protection Agency’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements.
“IPL is taking steps to meet current Indiana water quality standards, as included in the facility’s NPDES permit, by incorporating brine concentration (evaporation) technology at our Petersburg Generating Station. This technology will also ensure compliance with the US EPA’s final Effluent Limitation Guideline, or ELG, regulation,” said Shams Chishti, Director of Environmental Construction, Indianapolis Power & Light Company. “Our company remains focused on cleaner, affordable and more efficient generation options, and this project will help eliminate the FGD wastewater discharged into the environment and recycle water for reuse in a manner compliant with the final ELG regulation.”
Located in Pike County, Indiana, the Petersburg Generating Station is a 1760 MW coal-fired power plant. GE will provide the equipment to Indiana Water Partners (IWP), the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project.
The Petersburg Generating Station will be enhanced with GE’s technology solution for FGD wastewater, scrubber blowdown equipment, softening clarifiers, thermal brine concentrators and associated auxiliary equipment. The new treatment system is anticipated to begin commercial operation in 2017.
“Indianapolis Power & Light Company will eliminate FGD liquid discharge to waterways to meet current state water quality standards, which will ensure compliance with the final ELG regulation,” said Kevin Cassidy, global leader, engineered systems—water and process technologies for GE Power. “Our FGD wastewater treatment solution offers power plants maximum flexibility to treat FGD wastewater generated from any type of coal.”
Edited from press release by Angharad Lock
