FRIENDS OF COAL LAUNCH
RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGN

Be a friend of Friends of Coal and help recruit for an organization that spreads positive vibes throughout the industry.  Recently, the Friends of Coal, an outgrowth of the West Virginia Coal Association, started a recruitment campaign that was kicked off by Walker Machinery in Belle, West Virginia.  Walker has added 750 friends as a starter, its entire working staff. 

Get the idea?  If companies throughout the state took this as an example, imagine the growth figure.  It would be a tremendous lift to an organization that is dedicated to the perpetuity of the coal industry. 

Call the Friends of Coal and tell them CPM sent you. Call at 304/342-4153 and tell Sandy you’re a joiner!

NMA FORECASTS NEAR RECORD
COAL PRODUCTION IN 2008

 U.S. coal production in 2008 will be near the record site in 2006, defying a slowing economy, said the National Mining Association (NMA).  NMA also forecasts record demand in 2008 for America’s coal reserves, the world’s largest, and projected continued strong demand for minerals and metals mined in the U.S. 

“Our forecast reflects the powerful underlying conditions that are continuing to drive up coal and mineral demand,” said NMA President and CEO Kraig R. Naasz.  “The abundance of these commodities in the U.S. makes them especially valuable in a global economy driven by strong growth in large, rapidly developing countries.” 

The 1.16 billion tons of production NMA forecasts for 2008 tops the 1.147 billion tons mined in 2007 and is just 2 million tons shy of the 2006 production record.  

“Last year the nation had more coal-based power plant capacity than in any year in this decade,” said Naasz.  In addition, another 24 coal-based plants are under construction, and as of October 2007, there were an additional 10 GW of coal-based plants or units near construction or are already in the permit phase, ensuring coal will maintain its current 50 percent share of the growing market for electricity generation.  Two coal plants are projected to come on line in 2008, following the addition of three plants in 2007. 

NMA expects coal production in the Eastern U.S. this year to remain flat at 480 million tons, while Western production will likely increase to 680 million tons, a 2.1 percent gain over the 2007 level. 

The projected record-breaking coal demand of 1.209 billion tons will surpass last year’s 1.194 billion mark. A 1.3-1.7 percent increase in total electricity demand and another strong year for export, fueled by a weak dollar and strong offshore demand for metallurgical and steam coal, will drive coal demand in 2008. 

NMA’s 2008 export projection of 64 million tons is conservative, especially for high-grade met coal.  Coal imports will remain flat at 36.5 million tons in 2008 after rising sharply over recent years, said NMA.  Meanwhile, coal inventories at U.S. Power plants will approach optimum levels in 2008 following two successive years of sharp build-ups.

NMA President and CEO Kraig R. Naasz has commended President Bush for his strong endorsement of clean coal technology in the annual State of the Union address.  “We commend the president for his commitment to funding a new $2 billion international clean energy technology fund over the next three years that will stimulate the development of clean coal technologies and help transform global electricity generation.”   He added that when adequate research, development and deployment funding is made available, these and other technologies can deliver equally dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, not only here in the U.S. but also in China and India, whose emissions now surpass our own.

Jeffrey Specialty Equipment, Woodruff, SC, and Rader Companies have combined their domestic offices to serve the wood, pulp and paper and emerging biomass industries in the U.S. with more complete application solutions including size reduction equipment, pneumatics, material handling, screen and processing, and storage and reclaim solutions.  Rader makes pneumatic conveying systems, screening equipment, engineered storage and reclaim systems and truck dumpers for processing bark and wood chips.  Jeffrey manufactures chip sizers, wood hogs, crushers and feeders in the same South Carolina facility.

Ten Georgia electric co-operatives, Power4Georgians LLC, are seeking permits to build a $2 billion 850-megawatt Washington County Power Station near Sandersville, GA, 60 miles from Augusta.  The Washington County station will burn a mix of pulverized low-sulfur coal from the Powder River Basin and eastern U.S. coal.  The co-ops expect demand for base load power to serve 700,000 customers growing by 1,000 MW or 33 percent, to 4,000 MW by 2016, it is reported.  Also, Power4Georgians is exploring ways to boost renewable power supplies and to expand energy efficiency programs.

Trimble, Sunnyvale, CA, has acquired HHK Datentechnik GmbH of Braunschweig, Germany to localize software applications for the European survey and data collection markets. HHK is a provider of customized office and field software solutions. HHK’s management and staff will join Trimble’s survey division as part of the engineering and construction segment.

The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has issued a PIB (program information bulletin) reminding operators of Section 30 CFR 50.10, Immediate Notification.  This requires the operator to contact MSHA at once, without delay, and within 15 minutes at the toll-free number, 1-800-746-1553, once the operator knows or should know that an accident has occurred.  Following any incident, operators must also submit a Mine Accident, Injury, and Illness Report within 10 days.  Visit the MSHA website for more details.

The History Channel’s program, Modern Marvels, was recently at Brookville Equipment Corp., Brookville, PA, to film its underground mining locomotives to be used in an upcoming episode of the show.  Featured at BEC will be technological innovations and 90 years of history in manufacturing underground locomotives and personnel carriers.  The film crew captured every aspect of the production process from the drafting department’s Solid Edge 3-D modeling to demonstrations of BEC’s patented Railwalker system.  Modern Marvels also accompanied BEC to Consol Energy’s Bailey Mine in Greene County, PA, to capture the pace of activity as shift change occurred and incoming and outgoing personnel moved about in Brookville’s locomotives and personnel carriers. The episode is due to air in mid-March.

Eriez, Erie, PA, has constructed the world’s largest electromagnet for the second time, a 60-ton SER 700 Electromagnet that measures 12 ½ feet wide, 91/3 feet long and 7 feet high. The magnet will be used at Codelco Gaby Mine in northern Chile, and will be positioned after the mine’s primary crusher to protect downstream equipment.  Four smaller magnet models, Eriez SE2400s, were also ordered and will be used to attract tramp iron up to 24-inches away from the magnet face.

CONSOL Energy has completed the first phase of a plan to re-open Virginia’s Buchanan Mine, following its shutdown due to a fire last year.  It is reported that the ventilation fans are operating normally.  The next step is monitoring the underground atmosphere to determine if it is safe for trained crews to go inside.  The company’s 12 mine rescue teams are on site and have entered the mine for evaluation and repairs. The mine has 520 workers and produces about 5 million tons of metallurgical coal per year.  It is one of the biggest underground mines in the nation and the largest in Virginia.

Peabody Energy, St. Louis, MO, has reached an agreement to become a minority investor in Cambridge-based GreatPoint Energy, Inc.  GreatPoint is commercializing its proprietary bluegas technology that converts coal, petroleum coke and biomass into ultra-clean pipeline quality natural gas while enabling carbon capture and storage. The potential for development of coal gasification projects will be evaluated, using Peabody reserves and land.  GreatPoint uses a single-stage catalytic gasification process to create natural gas that is 99.5 percent pure methane and can be transported throughout North America utilizing the existing natural gas pipeline infrastructure.  The company is developing the technology for commercial-scale use for power generation, residential and commercial heating and production of chemicals.  Peabody is pursuing coal-to-gas projects to help build energy security and ease reliance on expansive natural gas imports.

Bridgestone Bandag, LLC, Muscatine, IA, has entered into a supply agreement with H&H Industries of Oak Hill, OH, for its CONTINUUM Brand Retread Materials.  H&H will use retread materials manufactured by Bandag to produce finished products, which it will supply to both Bandag franchised dealers and non-Bandag dealers.  H&H maintains the world’s largest inventory of new, used and remanufactured and repairable casings on its 30-acre facility and has additional storage facilities worldwide.

FutureGen, a $1.8 billion research project originally scheduled to be built in Mattoon, IL, was put on the back burner when Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said he “plans to direct the department to begin to pursue other options.”  Future of the world’s cleanest coal-burning power plant is now unclear.  The Energy Department, which would bear some 75 percent of the plant’s costs, is balking at cost overruns for the project—originally expected to come in near $900 million.  The public-private venture, which includes companies from around the world and funded by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, was formed in 2003 to design and test technology required to turn coal into a gas that can be stripped of harmful emissions, then burned to produce electricity and hydrogen.

American River Transportation Co. (ARTCO) and St. James Stevedoring Co. LLC (SJS) have formed a joint venture and will operate under the name of St. James Stevedoring Partners LLC and will be headquartered in Convent, LA.  The partners will provide the midstream transloading of bulk and break bulk cargo between ships and river barges in the lower Mississippi River area.  Five Gottwald cranes and six friction cranes will be used to accomplish cargo transfers.

Duke Energy has a state environmental air permit for a proposed coal gasification power plant in southwest Indiana, with construction expected to start on the $2 billion plant and open by 2012.  It stands to be the first in the nation to use coal gasification technology on a large scale, and “making history” by being the cleanest coal-fired power plant in the world.  It marks the first major power plant to be built in Indiana in about 20 years.  The 630-megawatt plant will be built along the White River near Edwardsport, some 15 miles northeast of Vincennes, replacing an existing 160-megawatt coal-fired plant.  Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC) supported the permitting at Edwardsport, along with the Cliffside Steam Station in North Carolina.  The Cliffside plant will utilize supercritical pulverized coal technologies that burn coal more efficiently while the Edwardsport plant will be one of the first coal plants in the world to utilize integrated gasification combined cycle technology.

Terex SHM, Beckley, WV, has a contract with Eniseiskaya Industrial Company in Moscow, Russia, for the delivery of the Terex SHM Highwall Miner to the Elegest coalfield in Tuva Republic where it will mine high quality coking coal.  Tuva Republic is located in southern Siberian Russia on the Mongolian border.  The Terex SHM highwall miner is a self-contained, remotely operated coal mining system, designed for safety and durability that a three or four-man team can operate and maintain from the surface.  No crew member is required to go underground, providing a safe working environment.

A heavy demand from coal markets in Asia, and especially China, has created a surge that should continue for some time, reports Peabody Energy Co., St. Louis MO.  The demand has translated into a 35 percent price increase for coal mined in Central Appalachia and a 33 percent increase for high-quality coal mined in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.  Supply disruptions caused by snowstorms and floods in China and Australia have created the surge. In addition, stockpiles at U.S power plants are falling at a rate of 2 million tons a week.  The company has exported some Wyoming coal through the Gulf of Mexico, an indication of the export market’s strength.  Peabody expects U.S. coal exports to triple between 2006 and 2008.

The Purcell Tire & Rubber Company, Potosi, MO, employee stock ownership plan’s independent institutional trustee and board of directors announce a definitive agreement under which Bob and Juanita Purcell have acquired the company and have returned it to private family ownership.  Purcell Tire is currently one of the largest independent tire dealerships in North America and among the nation’s largest retreads.

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer (D) and senior Air Force officials have held an industry forum in Great Falls, MT, to promote a plan by the Air Force to lease land at nearby Malmstrom Air Force Base for the construction of a coal-to-liquids (CTL) plant capable of producing 20,000 to 30,000 barrels a day of clean jet fuel for Air Force use. The Air Force, the largest fuel user in the federal government, is aiming to secure 50 percent of all the fuel it uses in the U.S. from new domestic fuels by 2016.  In the meantime, the AF is continuing on extensive testing programs to certify all of its aircraft to fly on fuels made using the Fischer-Tropsch techniques, the same process used to make CTL fuels, by 2011.  Visit www.futurecoalfuels.org

Goodyear Engineered Products’ conveyor belt manufacturer Veyance Technologies, Inc. has purchased Monk Mining Supply of Tazewell, VA, and the assets of its subsidiary Millennium Vulcanizing, a conveyor belt service provider. Monk Mining will retain its name, while the service business will become Veyance Industrial Service.  Veyance GM Bret Hall says it makes the company a one-stop-shop, total solution provider for central Appalachian coal producers.  Goodyear branded conveyor belt products, backed by full-service installation and repair technology, are available through United Central Industrial Supply, Bristol, VA., the largest mining supply distribution company in North America with 25 locations in mining regions of the U.S. and Canada.

The MineTracer Miner Location Monitoring System from Venture Design Services and Helicomm has been approved for use in underground mines by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).  The MINER Act of 2006 mandates post-accident communication and tracking in mines.  MineTracer reportedly is the first wireless tracking system approved since enactment of the Act.  The system enables continuous tracking of miners along main haulage entries and work areas, and can operate continuously on batteries for days after the power has been cut off to the mines. 

Fording Canadian Coal Trust and Teck Cominco Ltd announce that Elk Valley Coal’s Fording River Operations has won the 2007 Mining and Sustainability Award by the Mining Association of British Columbia and the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, for advancing and promoting sustainable development in the B.C. mining and minerals sector.  The Fording River mine has been operating since 1970 and is recognized as a world leader in reclamation, as well as committed to high standards of safety and community involvement.

The International Energy Agency projects that coal’s market share of total energy will grow from 25 percent today to 28 percent by 2030.  More than 80 percent of the growth in global coal demand is expected to come from China and India.  China alone added an estimated 96,000 MW of new coal-fueled generation in 2007, representing more than 300 million tons of annual coal use.  Coal demand in India is forecast to nearly triple by 2030.  All told, global coal consumption is expected to grow 73 percent, or more than 4 billion tons by 2030.

Rajant Corporation, Malvern, PA, provider of wireless mining solutions, has entered into a reseller agreement with Wheeler Machinery Co. of Salt Lake City, Utah, a member of the Caterpillar dealer network, to distribute and support its BreadCrumb Wireless mesh communications product line. Wheeler has 13 regional branches serving all of Utah and regions of Arizona, Nevada and Wyoming.  Wheeler will be a key partner in the sales, delivery, installation, training and support of Rajant BreadCrumbs networks.  Primary customers will include mining and construction companies.

The Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co. and Molycorp Inc. have formed a diversified mining company called Chevron Mining Inc., to improve market visibility.  P&M is one of the oldest continuously operating mining companies in the U.S., since 1885, operating two surface coal mines in Wyoming and New Mexico and an underground coal mine in Alabama.  Molycorp, formed in 1920, operates an underground molybdenum mine in Taos County, NM, and an open pit rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, CA.

Caterpillar Inc. and Claycrete Ltd have entered into a marketing agreement to provide a roadway and pad construction solution to operators of mines and oil and gas sites as well as to owners of builders of roads.  Caterpillar dealers will have exclusive rights to market Claycrete products worldwide, and Caterpillar Global Mining, a division of Caterpillar Inc., will support and oversee the business.  Claycrete Ltd, based in Perth, Western Australia, provides a process that combines project management and proprietary chemicals to transform native soils containing clay and/or limestone into pavement-like roads, site pads or solid base for paved roads.

Send news to: alskinner@ntelos.net