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World Coal
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January 2016
Coal News
Coal News
A
round-up of news from coal
projects around the world.
Australia
Glencore
Glencore has announced that its
proposed Blakefield North underground
coal project has been placed on hold in
response to continuing low prices in the
global thermal and metallurgical coal
markets. “We have to ensure that the
volumes and qualities of coal we
produce are aligned with market
requirements. We will not push
incremental tonnes into markets that
don’t want them or need them,” the
company said. The project, located near
Bulga, was expected to start in 2017.
Leigh Creek Energy
Leigh Creek Energy Ltd (LCK) has
carried out inferred resource and
exploration target estimations, and
reported an initial JORC inferred coal
resource of 377 million t at its
Leigh Creek Energy project (LCEP).
This result is within the company’s
previously announced target range of
220 – 530 million t. LCK intends to
commence additional drilling, coal
quality test work and seismic surveys
during 2016 in order to extend
confidence in coal quality and to
upgrade deposit certainty and
commerciality. The LCEP aims to
develop the area’s deep coal reserves,
using an underground coal gasification
process to turn the coal into gas for
supply into Australia’s east coast
gas network.
Stanmore Coal
Stanmore Coal has announced it is to
restart operations at Isaac Plains in
1H16 after it acquired the shuttered
metallurgical coal mine from Vale and
Sumitomo Corp. in August. The
company said that the recommencement
of mining at Isaac Plains would create
about 150 new jobs in the Moranbah
region of Queensland, as well as paying
AUS$7 million in annual royalties to the
state government. First coal is expected
to be shipped in April 2016.
Wollongong Coal
Wollongong Coal is to restart operations
at its Wongawilli coal mine in New
South Wales after placing the mine into
care and maintenance last year. The
decision comes after the New South
Wales Planning Assessment
Commission (PAC) last month
approved a five-year extension to the
Wongawilli mining licence. The
company has signed a two-year contract
with Delta SBD, one of the largest
contract mining companies in the
Australian underground coal mining
industry, to oversee and manage the
recommencement of the operations.
Delta SBD will provide technical
expertise, personnel and equipment
services at the mine, as well as
managing day-to-day operations.
Mongolia
Aspire Mining
Aspire Mining subsidiary Northern
Railways has received its construction
licence for the Erdenet-to-Ovoot
Railway from the Mongolian
government. The licence allows
negotiations to start for the grant of a
long-term lease for the land on which
the railway will be built, as well as
enabling Northern Railways to enter
into land use agreements with local
communities along the line’s route. It
also allows for the establishment of a
commission to agree traffic management
protocols and the point at which the
Erdenet-to-Ovoot line will connect to
the existing network. The 574 km rail
project forms part of Mongolia’s Rail
Policy to provide rail access to its
northern provinces through the
extension of the existing rail network
from Erdenet to the Russian-Mongolian
border at Arts Suuri.
Additionally, Aspire has announced
that its Ekhgoviin Chuluu Joint Venture
(ECJV) with the Noble Group has
received proximate analysis from core
samples taken from the 2015 exploration
programme at the Nuurstei coal project.
Washability test work on samples from
the first four holes show moderate
yields of a high-quality coking coal.
South Africa
Baobab Mining & Exploration
Chinese industrial conglomerate,
Qingdao Hengshun Zhongsheng Group
(Hengshun), could acquire a 34% stake
in Baobab Mining & Exploration, the
owner of the Makhado hard coking coal
project in South Africa, for
US$113.95 million, following the signing
of a non-binding memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with Baobab’s
parent company, Coal of Africa (CoAL).
The deal remains subject to CoAL
shareholder and regulatory approval, as
well as subject to Hengshun being
awarded the engineering, procurement
and construction contract for the project.
The Makhado project contains
344.8 million t of mineable coal and
forms part of the Greater Soutpansberg
project in the Soutpansberg Coalfield in
Limpopo Province.
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