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NEWS-THIS MONTH IN COAL sonnel redeployed at Beltana, West Wallsend and Ravensworth during the Blakefield South closure have been recalled. Newly-recruited staff are present- ly training at Xstrata Coal's underground training facility at Baal Bone mine in west- ern New South Wales. "Our team at Blakefield South has done an amazing job to safely recover the mine after the fire, rebuild the longwall, and resume production ahead of an ambitious timetable," said Mark Munro, operations manager, Xstrata Coal. "We thank them for their commitment and resourcefulness." Producing approximately 10 million metric tons per year of semi soft coking and thermal coal, Blakefield South is part of Xstrata Coal's Bulga Complex, which also includes an open cut mine and a coal handling and preparation plant. Xstrata Coal has been using the Baal Bone mine in the Western Coalfields, about 26 km northwest of Lithgow in New South Wales, as its regional training center, where new recruits will spend 12 weeks learning mining skills. In addition to formal class- room instructions, they learn to operate equipment on the surface before proceeding underground to operate the equipment in a 'real world' environment. Vale Sells Colombian Coal Assets Brazilian mining company Vale has signed an agreement to sell its thermal coal operations in Colombia Colombian Natural Resources, a privately held com- pany, for $407 million in cash. The ther- mal coal operations in Colombia consti- tute a fully-integrated mine-railway-port system consisting of the El Hatillo coal mine and the Cerro Largo coal deposit, both located in the Cesar department; Sociedad Portuaria Rio Cordoba (SPRC), a coal port facility in the Atlantic coast of Colombia; and an 8.43% equity partici- pation in the railway Ferrocarriles del Norte de Colombia S.A. (FENOCO) that owns the concession and operation of the railway connecting the coal mines to SPRC. According to the company, the sale of the thermal coal operations in Colombia is part of its continuous efforts to optimize the asset portfolio. Peabody Mines Approve New Labor Contracts Peabody Energy announced that workers at its Wambo and Wilpinjong mines in New South Wales have recently approved new labor agreements. Together, the COMPANY PROFILE-PAID ADVERTISEMENT ALL Crane & Equipment Rental Provides Lifting Power for Coal Prep Plant The general contractor for an addition to the Red Fox preparation plant and coal handling facility knows that ALL Crane & Equipment Rental of West Virginia can always provide exactly the right equipment they need for any job. For at least two months, the ALL sales rep, Gary Dodd, visited the construction site and worked with the GC, meticu- lously preparing for the job in every detail from site analysis to speci- fying the cranes to do the work. As a result, Dodd selected two 275-ton Manitowoc 999 crawler cranes, one Grove RT9130E rough terrain crane, and two 12,000-lb JLG telescopic forklifts to do all the lifting and moving on the job. The big cranes will hang the steel for the trusses that are part of an over- land belt conveyor system for feeding coal into the prep plant and then conveying it to the train loadout area. The forklifts will offload and separate the various components of the new plant building and truck them to the crane staging area. The cranes will also help install machinery such as crushers and coal screens into the plant, set coal- stacking tubes, and handle any other lifting needed to get the prep plant built and ready to process 600 tons of coal per hour by mid- October of this year. The big challenge: This summer, the two 999 crawlers will make a tandem pick across a railroad track and an adjacent creek to hang the steel for the belt line trusses. Logistics will be paramount in an area without much room for the big construction equipment to move, but for ALL, creating solutions is all part of the job. For nearly 50 years, the ALL Family of Companies has put its gen- erations of experience to work, executing successful picks in even the most challenging situations. Whether it's painstaking lift planning or the right equipment or the best-trained operators, ALL delivers every- thing you require, on time, on budget, and with safety foremost. Contact Information: ALL Crane & Equipment Rental Corp. Nitro, West Virginia, USA Toll Free: 800.477.2552 Local: 304.766.0300 Website: www.allcrane.com 54 E&MJ; • JUNE 2012 www.e-mj.com ALL Erection & Crane Rental Corp. Headquarters Cleveland, Ohio USA Toll Free: 800.232.4100 Local: 216.524.6550 new agreements cover more than two- thirds of the company's high-value thermal coal exports from Australia. "These new agreements were approved by an average of 80%, indicating a clear show of support from workers at our oper- ations in Australia," said Peabody President-Australia Eric Ford. "They follow the overwhelming approval of the new three-year North Goonyella enter- prise agreement in Queensland last month, covering Peabody's highest-value hard coking coal production." Peabody employees approved the new three-year Wambo enterprise agreement at the underground mine. Wambo employs 150 workers, producing high-quality thermal and PCI coal products. The mine's underground operations shipped 3.1 mil- lion tons in 2011. The new four-year Wilpinjong agreement was reached with the mine's current contract operator, Thiess. Wilpinjong will be transitioning to Peabody owner-operator status beginning April 1, 2013. Wilpinjong has a work- force of approximately 350 and produces thermal coal for both domestic and export markets. The mine shipped 9.8 million tons of coal in 2011 and recent- ly completed an expansion.