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Gladstone
port to expand capacity 35% The
RG Tanna coal terminal at Gladstone on Queensland’s Central Coast
will expand its capacity from 40 mtpa to 54 mtpa at a cost of A$167
million over the next three years. Construction
is scheduled to commence in January 2005 with completion expected by
the end of 2006. The
project includes a third rail unloading station, a third ship-loader,
a fourth berth and two additional coal stockpiles. An A$80 million upgrading project was completed just last year raising coal loading capacity at the terminal from 30mtpa to the current 40mtpa. Coal
exports via Gladstone in 2003 were 38.2million tonnes. Centennial
sells 45% of Cook Centennial
Coal has announced it will sell its 45 percent share in Cook Colliery
to Xstrata Coal for approximately $8.5 million. Xstrata already holds
50 percent of the mine with Tokyo Boeki holding the other 5 percent.
Centennial has managed the mine on behalf of the joint owners since
1997. Centennial
Coal intends to focus on expansion of production at its New South
Wales operations, as well as development of the Mandalong project –
scheduled to begin mining January 2005 – and the Anvil Hill opencut
project in the Hunter Valley. Cook Colliery is an underground coal mine located in the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland. It produces 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes per annum of coking and thermal coal for the export and domestic markets. The
sale of Cook is expected to be completed by the end of April 2004. Hail
Creek expansion study In the next few months Rio Tinto expects to complete a study to expand its new Hail Creek opencut coking coal mine from 5.5 million tonnes to eight million tonnes per annum. The study has been prompted by strong customer response in traditional markets and China, as well as signature of a 15-year contract with Nippon Steel to supply up to 30 million tonnes of Hail Creek coal at a price to be agreed between Rio Tinto and Nippon Steel annually. Rio Tinto also announced that Nippon Steel has agreed to purchase an eight percent interest in the Hail Creek joint venture. When the purchase is finalised, Rio Tinto Coal Australia will have decreased its share of Hail Creek from 92 to 82 percent, while the other participants (Marubeni Coal 5.33 percent and Sumisho Coal Development 2.67 percent) may increase their combined share by two percent. Located in Queensland’s northern Bowen Basin, Hail Creek was constructed for US$255 million, exported its first shipment of coal in August 2003 and was commissioned in November 2003. The mine is managed by Rio Tinto Coal Australia (formerly Pacific Coal) for the joint venture. Positive
news for Gloucester Coal UK Coal this week sold 97 percent of Sydney-based Gloucester Coal in a $51 million deal. Stock was bought by a range of institutional shareholders at 67c a share which is quite a jump above the 40c per share before the UK Coal sale. Gloucester Coal operates two opencut coal mines north of Newcastle with approximately 40 percent of its production sold to Japanese steel mills and the rest to other export and domestic customers. Production is expected to be about 2 million tonnes per year for the next seven or eight years. Market
enthusiasm for Gloucester Coal shares reflects higher coking coal
prices, the strong Aussie dollar, firm international demand for coke,
and Gloucester Coal’s low production costs. Stock promoters are
predicting a 2005 price-earnings ratio of about 2.2 and a dividend
yield of 22 percent. NSW
Government increases coal royalty In this week’s mini-budget the New South Wales Government announced a new value-based royalty rate of 5-7 percent to replace the flat rate royalty on coal production. The
Government estimates the royalty would have raised an extra $44million
based on coal production and prices in 2002-03. The old royalty raised
over $200 million in 2003-03. Industry estimates that at current coal
prices the new royalty could raise two to three times this extra
amount. Coal prices have doubled during the last nine months to reach
$US50 (A$65) per metric tonne. The new royalty rate is now similar to the Queensland coal royalty of 7 percent. Staff
of Southland Colliery retrenched The run of bad luck continues for Gympie Gold’s Southland Colliery. A fire last December caused the Hunter Valley mine to be sealed and forced Gympie Gold to put itself in voluntary administration. Joint Venture operators Gympie Gold (90 percent) and Thiess (10 percent), also the mine operator, were making progress towards re-entering the mine, but last week ran into unsafe conditions about 1km from the longwall resulting in the temporary evacuation of the mine. Expected delays and additional costs to address the unsafe work environment have led to Thiess announcing the retrenchment of its Southland Colliery workforce. The mine will be put into care and maintenance mode while the receivers and managers, Theiss and banking group Mizuho/Investec, decide what to do next. Macarthur
Coal shakes off its troubles Macarthur Coal’s report for the December 2003 quarter provided some good cheer for investors with production picking up at Coppabella and the construction of Moorvale Mine all but complete. Macarthur
Coal is also optimistic for 2004 with strong demand continuing for the
company’s low volatile PCI product and market conditions indicating
price increases are likely. Report
highlights: Production
has commenced at Moorvale mine and the 2004 financial year sales
target has been increased from 0.75 million tonnes to 1 million
tonnes. Final construction cost is expected to be $1 million below
budget. Relocation
of the transport infrastructure corridor has been completed on time
and removal of the old rail system is expected to be finished ahead of
schedule. Preparation
of Coppabella’s South Pit is well advanced with mining expected to
commence in January. Macarthur plans to engage a second contractor to
overcome any shortfalls and increase stock levels to allow optimal
coal blending. Successful
initial test work on a trial cargo of ultra low volatile coal (ULV),
shipped in October, has resulted in additional trial cargo orders from
other steel mills. A feasibility study into expanding Coppabella by up
to one million tonnes to accommodate production of ULV is expected to
be completed by the end of June 2004. Macarthur
Coal has increased its share in the now-unified Coppabella and
Moorvale Joint Venture to 73.3% after purchasing a 23.3% interest in
Coppabella from AMCI and selling 3.7% of Moorvale to one of the
continuing joint venture participants. Coal
& Allied hit from all sides in 2003 Rio Tinto’s 75.7 % owned subsidiary, Coal & Allied Industries Limited, today announced a net profit after tax of only A$0.1 million for 2003 compared to A$159.7 million in 2002. It also announced it will pay no final dividend on ordinary shares. The
strengthening Australian dollar resulted in a 26% decrease in revenues
compared to 2002, while lower prices for export thermal coal,
increased workers compensation insurance costs, and demurrage costs
due to congestion and capacity constraints in the Hunter Valley rail
system all added to the company’s financial burdens. The
company has concentrated on debt reduction in 2003, lowering debt by
11.1% to A$455.3 million. Restructuring costs of A$10.5 million after tax are expected
to deliver pre-tax savings of A$20 million annually. A likely tax
benefit of A$29.6 million from joining the tax consolidation regime
also provided some relief. Peabody
buys Burton and North Goonyella The
world's largest coal company, US-owned Peabody Energy, this week
agreed to purchase the Burton and North Goonyella mines in
Queensland's Bowen Basin from German-owned RAG Coal Australia. The
deal, estimated to be worth in excess of $350 million, includes the
two operating mines, together producing 7 million tonnes of premium
grade coking coal annually, and the non-operational Englefield
open-cut situated on the North Goonyella lease. Macquarie
Bank sells Nardell coal mine Macquarie
Bank has sold its Nardell coal mine in New South Wales’ Hunter
Valley for only $5.671 million, compared to over $15 million
offered last year. The
purchaser, Newpac, is lead by Nardell’s former managing director
Paul Jury who left in April this year after Macquarie put the mine
into receivership. The
bank took control of the mine in December last year when it required
the Board to seek approval for expenditures over $50,000 and set up an
inquiry that led to closure of the mine. The
sale is subject to approval from the New South Wales Minister for
Mineral Resources, and may face opposition from Iluka Resources who
hold the main lease. Spokesman
Michael Brown said Iluka would look carefully at Newpac’s operation
and financial backing before transferring the lease. Mr
Jury has expressed his confidence in the future of the Nardell, one of
the richest in the Hunter Valley with a potential lifespan of 50
years. The
Nardell mine has been one of Macquarie Bank’s worst investments
swallowing over $40 million of investor’s money in the past two
years via three investment trusts. Xstrata
cuts production at Baal Bone Xstrata
has announced a production cut from 2 to 1.2 million tonnes annually
at its’ Baal Bone Colliery in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales.
The mine’s workforce will also be reduced from 150 to 92. A
37% jump in worker’s compensation insurance premiums over the last
12 months combined with the rising Australian dollar and low coal
prices have prompted the decision.
The worker’s compensation insurance premiums now exceed the
amount of royalties paid on a per tonne basis. Xstrata
to re-open Glendell Xstrata
plans to re-open the Glendell mine now it has increased its share in
the project from 67.5 percent to 100 percent after paying $17.75
million to Mitsui Matsushima Australia Pty Ltd. Located
in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Glendell mine has the potential
to produce 2.5 million tonnes per annum with mining leases that cover
Mt Owen, Ravensworth East and Glendell. Xstrata
has not yet nominated a commencement date for the project but says the
project will “enable utilisation of capital employed with the shared
use of existing major infrastructure”. Rolleston
mine postponed Xstrata
has placed the $250 million development of the Rolleston thermal coal
mine on hold for three months while it conducts a review of the
project. This
news comes in the wake of Xstrata’s decision to reduce output from
its Hunter Valley coal mines by approximately 600,000 tonnes by the
end of July, compared with production of 27.6 million tonnes in 2002. A
combination of falling thermal coal export prices, increased
production by competitors Indonesia and China, high freight costs and
a rising Australian dollar have seen thermal coal producers margins
squeezed from all directions. Prior
to its takeover by Xstrata, MIM Holdings had committed to develop
Rolleston, 275km west of Gladstone, with initial production expected
in the second half of 2004, rising over time to 8 million tonnes per
year.
Wasting
no time after the Queensland Supreme Court approved its $4.9 billion
takeover of MIM, Xstrata immediately announced several executive
appointments. Director
of Xstrata’s underground operations Ian Cribb, will become the
Brisbane-based chief operating officer of MIM’s coking and thermal
coal mines which will be renamed Xstrata Coal Queensland. Mr
Cribb will report to Xstrata coal chief Peter Coates. MIM
copper boss John Gooding will lead Xstrata’s new copper division
with responsibility for all MIM’s base metals operations.
Charlie Sartain will continue to run Xstrata Copper Americas,
the 50 percent operating interest in the Alumbrera mine in Argentina. Appointments
take effect from Tuesday 24th June, when Xstrata formally
takes control of MIM and starts sending cheques totalling $3.43
billion to the 70,000 shareholders who voted to accept $1.72 cash per
share or joined the register for arbitrage profits. MIM
stock closed at $1.71 and will remain suspended until it is delisted
due to the merger, which will also see approximately 300 MIM head
office and exploration staff, including CEO Vince Gauci, retrenched in
a move to save Xstrata $70 million annually. AuIron
to acquire Yarrabee Mine AuIron Energy Limited has announced its intention to invest in the Yarrabee opencut thermal and PCI coal mine in the Bowen Basin, approximately 280km west northwest of the port of Gladstone. Resource
Management and Mining (RMM) will receive 301 million ordinary shares
in AuIron (approx 48% of the issued share capital of AuIron) and 150
million options over AuIron ordinary shares for the sale of its
wholly-owned subsidiary Yarrabee Coal Company Pty Ltd (YCC). YCC owns
100% of the Yarrabee mine. The options will be exercisable at 8.5
cents per share when AuIron’s share price reaches 15.5 cents within
the next 5 years. Exercise
of these options would give RMM 58% of AuIron’s issued share
capital. The
mine has been in operation for 20 years, the last 14 years under the
ownership of YCC. During this time, yearly sales have increased from
250,000 tonnes of thermal and low volatile PCI coal to over 1 million
tonnes, providing revenue of more than A$50 million per annum.
Yarrabee mine has defined coal reserves equivalent to 15 years
operation at 1-1.2 million tonnes per year. The
deal will see changes to the Board of AuIron with Ian McCauley,
Chairman of RMM becoming Chairman of AuIron, and John Rawlins,
Managing Director of YCC becoming a Director of AuIron. Jon Parker
will remain Managing Director of AuIron. Detailed
documentation on the acquisition and on YCC will be provided to
shareholders, and their approval will be sought at a meeting to be
arranged as soon as possible. MIM
Managing Director explains his views Managing Director Vince Gauci said MIM’s assets could be
sold separately for more than the value placed on them by Xstrata’s
$4.9 billion cash bid. He also said the bid was "perfectly timed
from a buyer's point of view but does not provide best value for MIM
shareholders". A statement of Mr Gauci’s position was included in
a 364-page information memorandum issued on 1 May
2003. MIM’s six other directors have all recommended the bid,
pointing out that the company’s earnings are highly leveraged to
commodity markets and that unless a higher bid than Xstrata's was
received no other alternative offered value in excess of $1.72 per
share. Mr Gauci agreed that a takeover premium exists in the current
share price but was of the opinion that shareholders would forgo value
in the medium to long term if they accepted the offer.
He remains confident that MIM’s record of ongoing operational
improvements will continue to add value and said that “in time, and
in a more normal business environment, MIM will deliver that value”. MIM shares have been valued at between $1.70 and $2.24 by
independent expert Grant Samuel who states that “ the balance of
risks is such that shareholders are clearly better off voting in
favour of the Xstrata proposal”. Queensland’s Supreme Court has approved MIM’s application to convene a meeting of shareholders to vote on the Xstrata offer. The deal can proceed if 75 percent of shareholders approve. However, Platinum Asset Management, holder of 2.5 percent of MIM shares, will write to shareholders outlining its arguments against the Xstrata deal after it failed in court last Wednesday to block the scheme of arrangement between MIM and Xstrata. MIM
and Xstrata announce agreement MIM has signed an agreement with Xstrata on a “scheme of arrangement” by which Xstrata will acquire all shares in MIM through a wholly-owned subsidiary for $1.72 cash per share. This values MIM’s equity at A$3.44 billion. The scheme requires MIM shareholder approval, the approval of the Supreme Court of Queensland and Xstrata shareholder approval. Xstrata plans to finance the deal with a fully underwritten rights issue, expected to raise £901million (US$1,406 million), with the balance to be covered by bank debt. After extensive research, the MIM Board decided the offer is in the best interests of shareholders and resolved that MIM should pursue the scheme. However,
Managing Director Vince Gauci considers the proposal does not
adequately reflect the value of the company.
An information memorandum outlining his recommendation and
reasons will be sent to shareholders this month, and a meeting of MIM
shareholders will decide the matter in early June. If the scheme is approved and receives the necessary regulatory approvals, the transaction could be completed by the end of June. MIM
Commits to develop Rolleston Mine MIM
has announced it will start immediately to develop the Rolleston open
cut coal mine at an estimated $175 million initial capital cost.
First production is scheduled for the second half of 2004. The
mine will increase production over three years to 6 mtpa with one
dragline, then expand to 8 mtpa with the addition of a second dragline
in the financial year 2006-07. The mine is located in Central Queensland approximately 275 km west of the coal export terminal at Gladstone, and contains Identified Coal Resources of 600 million tonnes, enough to sustain an 8 million tonne per annum (mtpa) operation for 20 years. After a competitive tender process Queensland Rail was chosen as the preferred tenderer to construct a public access rail line to the existing network at Blackwater (estimated cost: $200 million) and provide coal haulage services. A low strip ratio and low ash content means the product coal does not require washing which will save MIM the cost of a wash plant and minimise the water requirements of the mine. MIM is projecting a 12.5% real after tax rate of return even in scenarios of extremely low Australian dollar thermal coal prices. Wesfarmers
sells Girrah deposit and wins right to mine Pisces Wesfarmers has announced an agreement to sell the Girrah coal deposit to Anglo Coal (German Creek) Pty Ltd and Mitsui German Creek Investments Pty Ltd for A$82.5 million. The company also announced an agreement with Stanwell Corporation giving Wesfarmers the right to develop the Pisces deposit, approximately 10 km north of the Wesfarmers-owned Curragh opencut mine. The Girrah deposit, located 50 kilometres north of Curragh "was likely to be worth more to other operators in closer proximity to the deposit", according to Richard Goyder, Wesfarmers Finance Director. The Anglo-Mitsui deal should settle in the first half of 2003 giving Wesfarmers an after-tax profit of A$56 million. Development of the Pisces deposit, to be renamed Curragh North, will increase coal reserves at Curragh from 100 million to 220 million tonnes, and increase coking coal exports from the mine from 3.5 million tonnes per annum to 5 million tonnes per annum when Curragh North is fully operational. Domestic sales contracts with Stanwell will be modified and extended from 2016 to 2025. Development will start as soon as necessary approvals are received and first coal production is expected in the second half of 2005. MIM
in sales talks with Xstrata MIM has announced the start of merger talks with London-listed Xstrata plc. An offer of one Xstrata share for every 20 MIM shares plus $1 per share in cash is rumoured. This would value MIM shares at approximately $1.84, a premium to its share price of $1.47 at the close of trading yesterday. Swiss-based Glencore International owns 40% of Xstrata. The structure of the offer would give Glencore an Australian Stock Exchange listing after its failure to float Enex Resources in the Australian sharemarket. MIM
Share Price Soars MIM
shares have reached a five-week high of $1.21 after Sherrit Coal
Partnership bid $US1 billion for Canadian coking coal company Fording
Inc. The
Sherrit bid for Fording will influence the valuation
of other coking coal producers in the world. After comparisons between Fording and MIM, brokerage firm Merrill Lynch believes MIM Holdings’ share in the Oaky Creek coking coal mine could be worth up to twice their current valuation of $911 million. Fording
Inc is the world’s second-largest supplier of coking coal while MIM
Holdings is ranked fourth. Peabody
buys Wilkie Creek Only 19 months after quitting the Australian coal industry, Peabody Energy has returned to buy the Wilkie Creek opencut thermal coal mine for $US21 million ($A38.9 million) from Mirant Corporation. Peabody sold its share of Moura mine and four Hunter Valley mines to Rio Tinto in late 2000 for $US455 million, a move seen by industry as an effort to reduce debt before its $US420 million initial public offering last year. Wilkie Creek is the only operating mine in Queensland’s Surat Basin and holds 680 million tonnes of coal. Peabody plans to increase production to 1.3 million tonnes per year. Wilkie Creek coal is exported from the Brisbane coal terminal to Asian power generators. Centennial
Coal to purchase state-owned Powercoal New South Wales coal producer, Centennial Coal Co, has agreed to purchase the state-owned company Powercoal for $331 million. The deal will mean that more than one third of coal used for electricity generation in New South Wales will be supplied by a private company. Centennial will fund the acquisition through a $100 million share placement underwritten by Macquarie Equity Capital Markets and $250 million in syndicated bank debt. On completion of the purchase Centennial will have five underground mines in the NSW central coast and Lake Macquarie regions in addition to its existing 10 mines, bringing its yearly production to more than 13 million tonnes with reserves of more than 490 million tonnes. Centennial has also committed to developing the Mandalong underground project on the Central Coast and the Great Northern opencut project in the Hunter Valley in the next two years. All the Powercoal mines are close to NSW-Government-owned power stations that have entered into long-term supply contracts. Kogan
Creek Power Project sold to CS Energy Mirant
has sold its 60 percent share of the Kogan Creek power project, as
well as the adjacent Kogan Creek coal deposit to its joint-venture
partner CS Energy. Buyers
are yet to be found for the Wilkie Creek mine and Horse Creek coal
deposit. CS
Energy now has complete control over the development of the integrated
mine and power station project. CEO
Tony Bellas said “It is the last coal-fired power station granted a
licence under the State Government’s energy policy and, with all of
the other necessary development approvals already in place, we are in
a strong position to respond quickly to future market
opportunities”. Mr
Bellas also said CS Energy would consider all development options,
including the possibility of future joint-ventures, for the power
project and mine which has coal reserves in excess of the power
project’s needs. The project was postponed by Mirant until 2007 after InterGen’s Millmerran power station was given the go-ahead. CS Energy acquired its 40% of the project for $35 million in 2000 and offered Mirant (then called Southern Energy) 40 percent of its $250 million Swanbank E gas-fired generator project at Ipswich. The offer was not taken up. MIM’s
bid to buy Moura fails Mitsui
Corp has pre-empted MIM’s US$166 million offer for Riotinto’s 55
percent stake in the Moura coal mine, and has committed to a US$310
million coal joint venture with Anglo American. It
is understood that Anglo lost out to MIM in the bidding for Rio’s
share in Moura. Mitsui
will sell 51percent of Moura to Anglo Coal Australia, a subsidiary of
Anglo American, and in return Mitsui will buy 49 percent of Anglo’s
Theodore deposit, adjacent to the Moura mine, and 49 percent of the
Dawson and Taroom deposits further south. The
deal also includes a US$11 million payment to Mitsui, and the sale by
Anglo to Mitsui of 30 percent of the German Creek mine, approximately
100 kilometres north-west of Moura and adjacent to MIM’s Oaky Creek
mine. The
Anglo-Mitsui transactions are subject to regulatory approvals and are
unlikely to be completed before the end of the third quarter of this
year. The
joint venture paves the way for the $240 million development of the
Theodore thermal coal mine, a project expected to create 280 jobs, as
well as the expansion of Moura from 5.8 million tones per annum to 7
million tones per annum. MIM will now concentrate on development of the 300 million tonne Rolleston thermal coal deposit with a feasibility study due for completion by June this year. NRG
Energy to quit Australian energy market US
energy company NRG has placed its Australian electricity assets on the
market. These
include up to $2 billion worth of power stations generating more than
5000 mega-watts that supply large parts of Victoria, South Australia
and Queensland. In
Queensland, NRG owns half of the 192MW Collinsville power station and
37.5 percent of the 1680MW Gladstone power station. The debt-reduction move is believed to be prompted by the combined effects of the California energy crises and the collapse of US energy group Enron. MIM's
Moura Mine purchase now unlikely A Mitsui-Anglo owned Moura Mine now seems inevitable after Treasurer Peter Costello approved Mitsui's pre-emptive right to acquire 100% of the Moura Mine. "I have decided to raise no objections under the Government's foreign investment policy to a proposal by Mitsui Moura Investment Pty Ltd ... to acquire Coal and Allied Industries Ltd's 55 percent interest in the Moura mine in Queensland", Mr Costello said. MIM appealed to the Government last week on the grounds of national interest to prevent Mitsui exercising its pre-emptive rights which would scuttle MIM's planned purchase of 55% of the mine. The way is now clear for a major coal industry alliance that will see Mitsui on-sell 55 percent of Moura to Anglo Coal, and Anglo Coal transfer 49 percent of its Theodore, Dawson and Taroom projects and 30 percent of its German Creek mine to Mitsui. Anglo has committed to development of the Theodore Mine south of Moura on the southern edge of the Bowen Basin, and plans to be shipping 1 million tonnes of coal from Theodore per year by the end of 2003. Prior to Mr Costello's decision, the Queensland Government requested that the Foreign Investment Review Board examine all aspects of the deal saying it wanted "to maximise investment and active management of coal leases". It also believed the deal would create competition issues. The State Government may also have preferred MIM's plan to use Moura to jumpstart development of its Wandoan and Rolleston deposits. Moura
Mine purchase: a battle for MIM? The $US166 million purchase of RioTinto's 55 percent share in Moura Mine is shaping up as a battle for Australian-owned MIM Holdings. Rumours suggest that minor shareholder Mitsui & Co of Japan may exercise its pre-emptive right to acquire RioTinto's stake in the mine and then bring in Anglo American plc as its partner. Mitsui has until April 16 to exercise its right. Anglo American's subsidiary Anglo Coal Australia acquired the assets of Shell Coal in mid-2000 for $US900 million which includes the Callide, Moranbah North, German Creek East and German Creek mines in Queensland. Since then Anglo has acquired a further interest in the German Creek mines, and is understood to have purchased a 23 percent interest in the Jellinbah East mine. MIM agreed to pay $A313 million for RioTinto's share in February this year and had plans to improve the mine's profitability by increasing annual production from 5.3 to 7 million tonnes. If the sale falls through, MIM may have to turn to its alternate plan of paying down debt and investing in other coal projects. Wilkie
Creek/Kogan Creek Sale Mirant Corp has announced its intention to sell the Wilkie Creek coal mine and stalled Kogan Creek power project as part of a $US1.6Billion global divestment program. The Queensland assets for sale include the Wilkie Creek thermal coal mine, currently producing and exporting 1 million tonnes per year, the Kogan Creek deposit and associated power project, and the Horse Creek deposit. All are located in the Surat Basin (see the South East QLD Coal Basins map above). The mine and two deposits total approximately 1 billion tonnes of thermal coal. CS First Boston has been chosen to manage a global tender for the Queensland portfolio with the power project offered separately to the two deposits and operating mine. A figure of more than A$80 million has been suggested for the Wilkie Creek mine. Queensland Government-owned CS Energy holds a 40% interest in the Kogan Creek power project, and so could be a potential buyer. Although key contracts are in place and a generating authority granted, the project was postponed until 2007 after the Government approved InterGen's Millmerran power project near Toowoomba. See: www.mirant.com/queensland Monto
Coal Project – Burnett Coal Pty Ltd After
exercising the right to purchase a 51 percent stake in Burnett Coal’s
Monto Project,
Macarthur
Coal Limited has lodged its application for a Mining Lease with the
Queensland Government. This could see the Monto Coal mine
commence production by the end of the year. The approval process for a Mining Lease can take six to twelve months depending on factors including environmental, native title and local community considerations. Monto is located on freehold land so native title claims will not be an issue, and to assist liaison with the local community, Macarthur Coal will open a project office at 20 Newton Street, Monto by mid April. Macarthur Coal has also appointed Peter Champion Mining Pty Ltd as the principal contractor for the Monto Coal project. Peter Champion Mining started the mining operations at the Coppabella Mine in 1998. The Monto Coal mine, located south-west of Gladstone, Queensland, contains a very large thermal coal resource with particular marketing advantages in its properties of high volatiles, low sulphur, ultra low nitrogen and high ash fusion temperatures. It is also close to rail and power supply. Monto
will initially be a 500,000-1 million tonnes per annum (tpa) mine,
with the potential to expand to a 10 million tpa mine in the medium
term. The coal has an environmental advantage over most
other steaming coals currently traded, in that it produces 5% less CO2
per Mwh sent out (S/O) electricity i.e. less greenhouse gas per unit of energy. Energy
Minerals will continue to manage the geological exploration program for
the Monto Coal mine. Macarthur
Coal Limited has had previous associations with Energy Minerals i.e.
the Coppabella Coal Mine, which was discovered by the Principal of
Energy Minerals and is now producing 5Mtpa. Full
details are available from Macarthur Coal’s website www.macarthurcoal.com.au Dendrobium
Project – BHP Billiton Mitsubishi/BHP
Deal Also acquired by Mitsubishi was a 50% interest in BHP's coal mining and marketing activities of Central Queensland Coal Associates. This, together with other recent market activity, means that Mitsubishi controls over 20% of Australian coal production. Hail
Creek This is a joint venture operation between Rio Tinto's Queensland subsidiary Pacific Coal (92%) and Marubeni (5.33%) and Sumitomo of Japan (2.67%). The project is based on an estimated 1.2 billion tonnes of in situ resources, one of the world's largest coking coal deposits. |
