Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr
Issue link: https://emj.epubxp.com/i/148853
NEWS-THIS MONTH IN COAL Kestrel Extension in Australia Begins Production Kestrel's Cat EL3000 longwall shearer is capable of cutting 5,000 mt/h. It was painted pink to symbolize a new partnership that Rio Tinto forged with the McGrath Foundation and Caterpillar to support breast care patients and their families late last year. Rio Tinto officials have announced that coal production is under way at their Kestrel mine extension, a $2-billion project near Emerald in central Queensland, Australia. The extension, according to Rio Tinto, will add 20 years to the Kestrel mine, the company's only underground coal operation. Kestrel uses longwalls to produce metallurgical grade coal. John Coughlan, Kestrel's general manager for operations, called the event a "milestone" following four years of construction. As Kestrel North is phased out and Kestrel South ramps up, full capacity is forecast by Q4 2014 to produce 5.7 million metric tons per year (mt/y) through 2024, he added. The extension involved the installation of a new longwall, along with infrastructure including a 7.9-km overland conveyor—carrying 3,500 mt/h—and upgrades to the existing coal handling facilities and prep plant. These will allow new underground panels to be mined south of the existing operation. Rio Tinto Coal Australia manages the Kestrel mine on behalf of the joint venture partners Queensland Coal Pty Ltd. and Mitsui Kestrel Coal Investment. Rio Tinto Coal Australia has operated the asset since 1999. Bowie Resource Partners Acquires Canyon Fuel Mines Bowie Resources and the Galena Private Equity Resource Fund created a joint venture, Bowie Resource Partners, to purchase 24 E&MJ; • AUGUST 2013 Canyon Fuel Co. from Arch Coal for $435 million in cash. The sale has been approved by the Arch board of directors and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2013. Bowie Resource Partners (BRP) will own the Bowie and Canyon Fuel mines and will be based in Louisville, Kentucky, with a regional office in Grand Junction, Colorado. It will have an annual productive capacity of 15 million to 17 million tons of thermal coal and a workforce of 1,100. Trafigura AG will be the exclusive marketing agent for all of BRP's production. "From the beginning with Bowie, our goal has been to establish a core business rooted in the Western Bituminous Region and to grow organically as well as with specifically targeted synergistic acquisitions. We see this as an opportune time to position ourselves, with very selective mining and transportation assets, to be out in front of an anticipated renewed global interest in western U.S. coal," said John J. Siegel, chairman, BRP. "The exemplary safety and productivity record of Canyon Fuel, the company's long-term relationships with its cornerstone domestic customers, and the superior quality and geology of its reserves, in conjunction with our recent development of significant West Coast export throughput capacity, combine to make this an extraordinary acquisition for us." Canyon Fuel includes the Sufco and Skyline longwall mines and the Dugout Canyon continuous miner operation, all located in Utah. Arch will also transfer to BRP 105 million tons of bituminous coal reserves in Utah. BRP plans to expand that reserve base. Bowie operates a 5 million ton per year longwall mine, located in Paonia, Colorado. It opened in 1998, and was purchased by a group headed by John Siegel and Steve M. Rickmeier in July 2009. More than half (60%) of Bowie's production and remaining reserves are committed to the Tennessee Valley Authority under a long-term contract. Bowie has a 650-tph heavy-media wash plant, a 115-car unit train loadout, and produces "super-compliance" bituminous coal. Pike River Says it has No Money for Families Pike River Coal says there is no cash in its coffers to pay court-ordered compensation to the families of victims of the 2010 mine explosion—despite the personal wealth of its former directors and the assets of its biggest shareholder, according to The New Zealand Herald. The company was sentenced in the Greymouth District Court on July 4 over health and safety failings that led to the deaths of 29 miners in November 2010. Judge Jane Farish ordered Pike River Coal to pay a total of $3.41 million in reparation—$110,000 for the family of each victim and survivors Russell Smith and Daniel Rockhouse. She also fined the company a total of $760,000 over nine charges. Pike River Coal is in receivership and indicated during sentencing that it had only enough money to pay $5,000 to each family. But Judge Farish slammed the claim, and said the company had a "total lack of remorse." Farish indicated that Pike's biggest secured shareholder, NZ Oil and Gas (24.9%), was in a position to pay reparation. Last August, NZ Oil and Gas posted a full-year profit of $19.9 million. Pike River receiver John Fisk said it was impossible for the firm to comply with Farish's order. It had $2 million worth of liability insurance, but after legal fees were paid, just $156,000—or about $5,380 per family—was still available for compensation payments, he said. www.e-mj.com