Coal

Zyl finds buyer interest in Mbila coking coal output

Xanadu in Talks to Sell Mongolian Power-Coal Assets in 6 Months

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

By Michelle Yun

Xanadu Mines Ltd. (XAM), an Australian explorer operating in Mongolia, is in talks to sell its thermal coal assets in the nation in the next six months as part of a shift to focus on coking coal.

Discussions are being held at an informal stage and no bank has yet been hired for the sale, Xanadu Chairman Brian Thornton said today by phone from Sydney, without giving details. Read more

Xstrata Thermal-Coal Output Rises on New Mines; Copper Falls

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

By Firat Kayakiran

Xstrata Plc (XTA), the largest exporter of power-station coal, said production of the fuel from Australia rose to a record last year after the Mangoola mine started and the Newlands underground project boosted capacity.

Xstrata produced 49.8 million metric tons of thermal and semi-soft coal in the country, a 12 percent gain on the previous year, the Zug, Switzerland-based company said today in a statement. Mined nickel volumes also climbed to a record, while copper output dropped 2.7 percent. Read more

Aquila Resources approves Eagle Down coal project

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

AQUILA Resources has formally approved the Eagle Downs coal project it has been fighting over in court with joint venture partner Vale.

Aquila said the approval of the hard coking coal project in Queensland meant it would not pursue action in the state’s Supreme Court against Brazil’s Vale. Read more

Coalspur Mines shares jump on upgrade

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

By David Winning

COALSPUR Mines said today its proposed $C1.23 billion ($1.16bn) Vista mine in Canada may produce 24 per cent more coal than previously thought, as the company moves to lock in project financing with offtakers.

Coalspur said a detailed study showed the Vista project, near Hinton in Alberta province, could have an annual production capacity of 11.2 million tonnes of thermal coal versus a previous estimate of 9 million tonnes. Read more

Russia’s Second-Biggest Coal Miner to Cut 2012 Output, IFX Says

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

By Ilya Khrennikov

OAO Kuzbassrazrezugol (KZRU), Russia’s second-largest coal producer, decreased output 5 percent last year and plans a 4 percent cut this year to improve mining efficiency, Interfax reported from Siberia.

Kuzbassrazrezugol produced 47 million metric tons of coal last year, including more than 5 million tons of steelmaking coal, the newswire said citing a company statement distributed to reporters in Kemerovo region, where the miner is based. Read more

LontohCoal May Double H.K. IPO to $1 Billion for Zimbabwe Mine

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

By Michelle Yun

India’s quest for coal just beginning

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

By  Shivom Seth

In September last year, Coal India’s plans to buy coal mines abroad hit a major stumbling block. the country’s coal minister said his ministry was not keen on the firm acquiring foreign assets, saying he would rather it focus on local production of the fuel. But, in the early days of January 2012, the world’s largest listed coal miner by capacity was back on the prowl for overseas mining assets. Read more

Australia Newcastle Thermal Coal Rises 1.7% to $116.19 a Ton

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

By Rakteem Katakey

Power-station coal prices at Australia’s Newcastle port, an Asian benchmark, rose 1.7 percent in the week ended today.

Coal prices at the New South Wales port climbed to $116.19 a metric ton from $114.30 the previous week, according to the globalCOAL NEWC Index. Read more

Provinces offered relief on coal phase-out

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

By Shawn Mccarthy

The federal government is offering the provinces a way to avoid tough new regulations that would eventually force power companies to shut down the country’s fleet of coal-fired power plants.

Environment Minister Peter Kent and Prime Minister Stephen Harper have privately indicated they are willing to provide flexibility in how new power-plant emissions rules are implemented, provincial and industry sources said Thursday. Mr. Kent is expected to release the final version of the long-promised regulations in the coming months. Read more

NMDC May Pay $300 Million for Mozambique, Russian Coal Mines

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

By Rajesh Kumar Singh

NMDC Ltd. (NMDC), India’s largest iron ore producer, plans to acquire two coking coal mines in Mozambique and Russia for about $300 million to feed its planned steel plants in India.

Talks are on to acquire a mine with 360 million metric tons of deposits in Mozambique’s Tete province and an 80 million-ton mine in Russia’s Kemorovo region, Chairman Narendra Kumar Nanda said today in a phone interview. Read more

A cautious optimism for coal

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

By David Ebner And Brenda Bouw

The sky is a hard grey and the small mountains of coal piled a dozen metres high are thick black. From this outpost in northwestern British Columbia, about 700 kilometres from Vancouver, coal trundles on conveyors from train cars to the piles, and then onward to docked ships destined for steel mills in China, Japan, and South Korea. Read more

Shenhua to Build Asia’s Biggest Coal-Fired Power Station in Southern China

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

Shenhua Group Corp. plans to build Asia’s biggest coal-fired power plant in China’s southern province of Guangxi to help reduce electricity shortages in the region, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The parent of Hong Kong-listed China Shenhua Energy Co. (1088) signed an agreement with the local government to build an 8- gigawatt plant at the port city of Beihai, Xinhua said in the report today, without citing anyone. Construction will take about five years, it said. Read more

Cool response to China coal bid for Gloucester mines

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

GLOUCESTER Coal’s minority shareholders may not get good value from Yanzhou Coal’s $2.1 billion cash-and-scrip bid to create Australia’s biggest pure-play coal company, according to Credit Suisse.

Credit Suisse analyst Paul McTaggart said the $5.1bn equity value the Chinese state-controlled company had put on assets it planned to merge with Gloucester gave a hefty $15-a-tonne value to Yancoal’s reserves and represented a deal uplift of 19 per cent to Gloucester shareholders. Read more

Big deals provide coal comfort for investors

Indonesia May Increase Coal Production 8.3 Percent in 2012

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

By Fitri Wulandari

Indonesia, the world’s largest thermal coal exporter, expects to boost output in 2012 as domestic and Asian demand rises, the chairman of the Indonesian Coal Mining Association said.

Indonesia may produce as much as 390 million tons of the fuel in 2012 to satisfy demand from Asian buyers, particularly India and China, Bob Kamandanu said today in an e-mailed statement in response to questions from Bloomberg News. Read more

Record Coal Deals Whittle Targets as Prices Climb

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

By Elisabeth Behrmann

Record coal deals this year have slashed the number of potential targets in Australia, the world’s largest exporter. The combination of Whitehaven Coal Ltd. (WHC) and Aston Resources Ltd. (AZT) looms as the last prize standing.

Rising demand in China and India has pushed mergers and acquisitions globally to a record $34.5 billion this year, with 192 companies acquired, compared with $30.3 billion last year. Australian deals reached an all-time high this month when Whitehaven agreed to buy billionaire Nathan Tinkler’s Aston, to create a company valued at A$5.1 billion ($5.1 billion). Read more

China’s Yancoal in talks to buy Australia’s Gloucester: sources

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

By Sonali Paul

Chinese-controlled Yancoal Australia is in talks to buy Gloucester Coal, currently worth $1.4-billion (U.S.), to create Australia’s top independent coal miner, three sources familiar with the deal said Tuesday.

Gloucester confirmed it was in talks on a potential takeover, without naming its suitor, and requested a two-day trading halt on its shares pending an announcement on a deal. Read more

Yanzhou Coal Is Said to Plan $2 Billion Purchase of Australia’s Gloucester

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

By Cathy Chan

Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. (1171), China’s fourth-largest producer of the fuel, plans to acquire Gloucester Coal Ltd. for at least $2 billion, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

The cash-and-stock bid for Gloucester, which has a market value of A$1.43 billion ($1.42 billion), will be made by Yancoal Australia Ltd., Yanzhou Coal’s Brisbane-based unit, the person said, asking not to be identified as the details are private. The person declined to give an exact offer price. Read more

China’s NDRC Urges More Coal, Diesel Supplies for Winter, Spring

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below.

China’s mines and oil refiners must boost supplies of coal and diesel fuel for heating and agriculture, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a notice.

Oil refiners should increase oil product supply, diesel in particular, to prepare for demand during the planting season in the spring, the nation’s top economic planner said in the statement on its website, without elabration. The market for both fuels is “generally” balanced between supply and demand “but there are still many uncertain factors that could affect stable supply,” the agency said. Read more

Next Page »