Ongoing talks with Brazil’s Vale and Xstrata concerning a takeover bid in the area of $100 billion continues.  A potential acquisition of Xstrata could stretch Vale’s balance sheet, with the company now budgeting $59 million for a five-year investment program, the Brazilian miner reports.

A $A1 billion-plus financing has been secured for the construction of a third coal export terminal at Newcastle Port, involving the construction of a 30-million ton a year export coal leading facility with a future option to expand to 66 Mtpa.  Terminal managers, Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group, received approval for the terminal to be located on Koorangang Island.  The first ship loading of coal is expected by late 2010.  The project is expected to increase GDP by $A1.5 billion per year, boost exports by $1 billion and generate up to 5,000 jobs across NSW.

Straits Resources of Perth has acquired a 35 percent interest in Red Island Minerals’ (RIM) coal tenements in Sakoa, Madagascar.  The $45 million package includes a $5 million payment for a resource drill out and the completion of a feasibility study, as well as $40 million in cash and Straits shares. Straits has an option to purchase the remaining 65 percent of RIM shares.  The Sakoa area has several seams with thicknesses up to 12 meters.  Estimates place the area’s coal inventory at more than 100 million tons.

Blackham Resources and Wesfarmers Premier Coal have signed a joint venture agreement over the 668 million ton Scaddan lignite project near Esperance in Western Australia.  Blackham and Premier Coal will hold 70 percent and 30 percent, respectively in the project.  Both companies are required to contribute proportionately to all costs incurred in furthering the project’s downstream processing potential, including coal to liquids.

Anglo American plc has acquired a 70 percent interest in the Foxleigh coal mine joint venture in Queensland, Australia for $620 million.  Foxleigh currently produces 2.5 million tons per year of PCI (pulverized coal injection) coal for the steelmaking industry.  Foxleigh has a production capacity of 3.3 million tons per year, which it is expected to reach, following completion of rail and port expansion projects.  The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.

Mine Site Technologies of Sydney, Australia, has teamed with Rajant Corporation to provide underground and open pit mines with wireless communications.  MST has worked with Rajant’s BreadCrumb system and will be a partner in the sale, delivery and product creation of wireless mining solutions.  MST will work with Rajant on wireless feasibility studies, site surveys, aerial mine photography, installation, training, maintenance and operation of BreadCrumb networks.

Cebu Power Corp. (CPC), Cebu City, Philippines, a consortium of four companies, plans to build and operate a 246-megawatt power plant in Barangay (village) Sangi, Toledo.  The plant will use clean coal technology.  CPC is composed of Aboitiz Power Corp, Formosa Heavy Industries Corp., Global Business Power Corp. and Vivant Power Corp.  The plant is expected to be fully operational in early 2010, and will be located beside the existing diesel-fired power plants in Toledo.

ABB power and automation technology group, Zurich, Switzerland, has won a $15 million order to provide six thyristor rectifier plants and related engineering and commissioning services for a new copper and cobalt refinery in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  The project is a joint venture between Nikanor and the DRC government, to rehabilitate the Komoto Oliveira Virgule mine.

LUBEL Coal Company will invest $59 million to develop a 5.2 million ton-a-year longwall mine in Western Ukraine, containing reported resources of 162 Mt in the Lvov-Volyn hard coal basin, near the Polish border.  The coal blocks are located near an existing power station and railway network where the product can be transported to domestic and European customers.  Lubel says the mine will produce 5.2 million tons of ROM coal a year over a mine life in excess of 25 years.

Eastern Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding with Rio Tinto for the sale of its subsidiary Broughton Coal Mining Limited for $A10 million, which is adjacent to Rio Tinto’s Hail Creek mine.  Eastern has a 90 percent stake in the Broughton Coal Joint Venture.  Mitsui Coal Holdings has the remaining 10 percent.

The historic Tower Colliery of South Wales is closed.  At its peak in 1920, the number of miners working alone peaked at 271,000, producing 57 million tons a year, one fifth of the UK’s total output. There were 620 separate coal mines in Wales during the first World War. By 1975 output was down to 8.5 million tons a year with a workforce of 30,800 working at 42 mines.

Oman is considering building the first coal-fired Gulf Arab power plant with a capacity of 700 megawatts of power and 26 million gallons a day of desalinated water.  Industry sources said that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are also looking at the possibility of building coal-fired power plants. 

Asia Energy plans to build a 1000-MW power plant at the Phulbari Coal Mine Project area as a mine-mouth plant to reduce cost of transportation.  Asia Energy Corporation plans to extend the generation capacity of the power plant to 2,000 MW in the future to meet demands.  The company will invest over $2 billion to develop the Phulbari project through open-pit mining method from which it would annually produce 15 million metric tons of high-quality coal.  A draft coal policy has been framed and it is expected to be approved by the government within months.

A lease has been granted to Narrabri Coal Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Whitehaven Coal Mining Ltd, to open a new underground mine near Narrabri.  The $120 million project will provide the mine with 80 construction and 113 operational jobs.  There are three open cut mines in the area, two of which are operated by Whitehaven Coal Mining.  Construction has begun and coal production is set to begin in the first half of 2009.

Xstrata Coal Beltana Coal Mine in Hunter Valley in NSW Australia, has selected Mine Site Technologies’ ICCL cap lamps and digital RFID tracking system for its mines.  Initial installation of MST’s ICCL consists of 200xICCL’s Wi-Fi RFID tag, 50x self-contained tags on underground diesel vehicles, 18 dual wireless ImPact access points (directional APs, and full AeroScout Mobile View user and management software.  Beltana produces over seven million tons of coal a year and has strong focus on safety to support the production and further enhancing safety at the mine.

Star Emmsons Resource has acquired Indonesia’s Bara Energy Makmur (BEM), which has 150 to 250 million tons of coal reserves.  Star Emmsons is a 70:30 joint venture with Dubai’s ETA Star Group and India’s Emmson International Ltd.  ETA Star is setting up a 1,200MW coal-based power project in Tamil Nadu.  Star Emmsons newly acquired mines in Indonesia will have a production of 12 million tons a year—half to the Tamil Nadu project and the remainder to be traded.  ETA Star Group plans to build a ship terminal as part of the project to receive imported coal.

Caledon Resources PLC has commenced production at the Cook Coal Mine in Australia after installing a new underground mining system, aiming toward its goal of 100,000 tons a month.

Orica, Melbourne, Australia, has acquired Strata Control Systems, an Australian underground support provider. Strata provides metal support systems for underground mining including roof bolts and accessories, and has three manufacturing facilities in New South Wales and Western Australia.  The purchase is expected to close in the first quarter of this year.

UBS AG, Europe’s biggest bank by assets, predicts that coal used in power plants in 2008 and 2009 will average $100 a metric ton this year, and $125 a ton in 2009. Supply constraints and rising Chinese demand caused by the heaviest snowfalls since 1954 pushed prices of coal burnt in power stations to a record $105.17 a ton at Australia’s Newcastle port, says globalCOAL NEWC index.

ArcelorMittal has signed an agreement to acquire three Russian coal mines for $720 million.  Severstal JSC will sell two coking coal mines and associated companies in central Russia for $650 million, and a third mine from Frontdeal for $70 million.  The three mines produced 3.14 million tons in 2007.

Rio Tinto Ltd and Mitsui & Co. will spend some $1.36 billion to develop a new coal mine in Queensland, Australia, expected to have an annual output of 6.5 million tons in peak years, starting in 2012.  The two companies are currently producing 4 million tons of thermal and coking coal a year at an existing mine in Queensland.

Tarong Energy is now the official owner of Rio Tinto’s Meandu coal mine and the nearby Kunioon coal reserve, which will serve as a fuel source for Tarong’s two coal-fired power stations in the area. Thiess will operate Meandu, which will supply coal for Tarong until a new mine at Kunioon is fully operational around 2012.  Up to 750 jobs will be created during the construction phase of the Kunioon mine.  The new mine will provide more than 500 direct and flow-on jobs throughout the South Burnett and across Queensland.

Sentula Mining (formerly Scharrig Mining Ltd), Johannesburg, South Africa, has acquired a 49.998 percent stake in the Koomfontain Coal Mine, a large underground operation adjacent to Eskom’s Komati power station.  The colliery produces about 4 million tons of coal a year of which some 1.5 million tons is exported under entitlement through Richards Bay Coal Terminal.

Rio Tinto has discovered an open-pittable bituminous coal resource of 1.04 billion tons in Limpopo, suitable for generating electricity.  The discovery at Chapudi came through Rio Tinto’s coal exploration program in the Limpopo coal basin of South Africa, in conjunction with BEE partner, Kwezi Mining.  Exploration activities are continuing for thermal and coking coal east of the Chapudi project.

China’s Datong Coal Industry Co. has bought 80 percent stakes in Zhaofu Coal Co. and Huafu Coal Co. for $95 million.  Both are based in the Zhungeer area of Inner Mongolia with a combined 134.6 million tons of reserves. Each plans annual production of 1.2 million tons. 

Kazakhmys has acquired a power plant and captive coal mine in Kazakhstan from AES, a U.S. power group, for $1.5 billion. The Ekibastuz power plant is Kazakhstan’s biggest and has a capacity of 2,250 megawatts. Kazakhmys plans to raise capacity to 4,000MW during the next five years with a $650 million expenditure on refurbishment.  The coal mine at Maikuben has an expected life span of 30 years and produces 3.1 million tons a year.

Global Steel Holdings has acquired two coal blocks in Mozambique, covering 30,000 hectares and with proven resources of some 70 million tons of coking coal with low to medium ash content.  Exploration work has commenced in the Tete region.  Production of coal is expected to start in three to four years.