China sets coal capacity elimination target for next 5 years

Thursday, 27 Oct 2011 | By SXCOAL

China has set the target of eliminating nearly 100 million tonnes of outdated coal production capacities in the 12th Five-Year Plan. In the next five years, China is targeting to phase out 97.18 million tonnes outdated capacity by closing 2,791 small coal mines.

Specifically, coal mines with annual capacity less than 30,000 tonnes would be shut and those with average recovery rate below 50% for three consecutive years would also be eliminated. Presently, there are some 10,000 small coal mines around the country.

The government shut 9,574 small coal mines, with a total capacity of 530 million tonnes during the 11th Five-Year Plan.

Continental Coal on track with development of third South African coal mine

Sat, 22 Oct 2011

First production from the underground mining operation is forecast to commence in the June quarter of 2012 with full production targeted to be achieved in the September quarter of 2012.

Development activities at Continental's third thermal coal mine are proceeding on schedule with the box-cut at the mine already excavated to a depth of 5.5 metres. The first blast in the box-cut was successfully completed on 15 October 2011.

Excavation of the pollution control dam is now 80% complete and the installation of the dam lining is scheduled to commence later this month. The ZAR 96 million decline development tender will be finalised in October 2011 and mobilisation to site is scheduled in early November 2011.

The construction of the terraces for the site buildings, the contractors lay down area, as well as the access roads and visual berms is now 65% complete. In addition, the underground mining equipment tenders for the Penumbra Coal Mine have been adjudicated by Continental and TWP Projects and meetings have been held with the preferred supplier for the ZAR 116 million equipping of the two production sections with the continuous miners and shuttle cars or battery haulers.

The Penumbra Coal Mine is on track to produce 500,000 tonnes per annum of a high quality export thermal coal product. Production of 750,000 tonnes of ROM coal from the Penumbra Coal Mine will be beneficiated through the existing Delta Processing Operations which comprises a 300tph coal processing plant and the 1.2Mtpa Anthra Rail Siding.

The export thermal coal product will be railed through to the Richards Bay Coal terminal under existing rail contracts and sold to EDF Trading and other export off-take agreements.

(sourced proactiveinvestors)

Raspadskaya to miss 2011 coking coal output target by 24pct - Report

Tue, 11 Oct 2011

Russian producer of coking coal OAO Raspadskaya may produce less than 6.5 million tonnes this year, missing its output target by 24% percent, Kommersant reported, citing analysts’ estimates.

Raspadskaya produced 400,000 tonnes of coal a month in July and August versus average 576,000 tonnes a month in the first half, the Moscow-based newspaper said, citing Metal-Courier data.

The company will probably miss its full-year output target of 8.5 million tonnes, according to the newspaper.

Raspadskaya had a market value of about USD 2.2 billion yesterday, while steelmaker Evraz Group SA and Raspadskaya management have been seeking to sell the company for more than $5 billion in the first half of the year, Kommersant said.

(sourced from Bloomberg)

Universal Coal continues to progress Berenice Cygnus coking coal project

Saturday, 08 Oct 2011

Universal Coal continues to progress the Berenice Cygnus coking coal project in South Africa forward at speed with the company appointing DRA Mining Ltd to undertake a Concept Study.

Mr Tony Harwood chairman of Universal Coal said “We are delighted to have the strong technical DRA team to assist Universal in determining the quality and size of our future coking coal operation at Berenice-Cygnus.”

This study comes hot on the heels of the announcement earlier in the week that the JORC Resource has been increased to 1.325 billion tonnes at the project. The upgrade was achieved after the company received outstanding slim diameter analytical data from infill holes which were completed during the first phase drilling program.

Another significant outcome to the upgrade is the 56% increase in the coal Indicated to Measured Resource categories over the previous estimate, which was delivered mid-year.

Berenice now comprises
1. 7.9 million tonnes in the Measured category
2. 394.5 million tonnes in the Indicated category
3. 922 million tonnes in the Inferred category

A Feasibility Study is forecast to commence in 2012.

(sourced from proactiveinvestors)

Queensland Cuts Coal Output Forecast 10.5% on Floods

By Ben Sharples - Jan 19, 2011
Queensland cut its annual steelmaking coal output forecast by 10.5 percent and expects resumption of normal mining to take as long three months after record rain in Australia, the biggest exporter of the fuel.
Coking coal output in the 12 months ended June 30 is forecast to be 177.3 million metric tons, down from an initial projection of 198 million tons, Mines and Energy minister Stephen Robertson said in a telephone interview. This compares with 182.1 million in the 12 months ended June 30, 2010.
“Queensland is the world’s largest exporter of seaborne coal, so when our supply chains get interrupted that’s felt by a large part of the world,” Robertson said. “We’ve experienced the largest natural disaster in our history, with flooding that has enveloped almost three-quarters” of the state, he said.
The worst flooding in 50 years may have cost A$2.3 billion ($2.31 billion) in lost coal sales, the Queensland Resources Council estimates, with only 15 percent of the state’s mines operating at full production. It may take between two-to-three months for normal operations to resume, Robertson said.
BHP Billiton Ltd. and Xstrata Plc are among producers who’ve said they may miss deliveries. Force majeure remains in place at four mines operated by Rio Tinto Group, the company said yesterday in its fourth quarter operations report.
Australian hard prime coking coal used by steelmakers sold for $280 a metric ton on average last week, up from $265 the week before, according to IHS McCloskey. Prices may reach $300 a ton this year, McCloskey said Jan. 17. Source : Bloomberg