The Chinese owned Austar Coal Mine, located in NSW, Australia operates the only top coal caving longwall coal mine in Australia.   Austar enhanced its emergency warning and evacuation procedures by implementing a combination of Tracking and emergency communications by installing a Tracking system based on Mine Site Technologies RFID TRACKER System and its PED through-the-earth emergency paging system. The two systems are merged at the user end in the ICCL cap lamps equipped with RFID Tags and PED pagers to form an integral part of the mine’s emergency warning system, allowing miners to be alerted by text message wherever they are located in the mine in the case of an emergency. The PED can then also direct or update people as they evacuate.  Self Contained RFID Tags will also be fitted to underground vehicles to provide day to day management of these assets, thus increasing their utilization. The combination of PED and Tracking not only enhances the safety systems at Austar coal mine, but additionally provide a powerful management tool that will contribute to productivity at the mine.

Gemcom Software has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by JMI Equity and Carlyle Group for approximately $C180 million.  Gemcom offers mining software and service solutions in more than 90 countries, with global reach and local presence in all major mining centers.

Leighton has a $350 million five-year mining services contract extension with Indonesia’s Mahakam Sumber Jaya mine.  Leighton has been operating the mine since May 2004.  The new contract includes the removal of overburden, the loading and transportation of coal from the mine to the port, and maintenance of the mine’s haul road.  Leighton has secured more than $1 billion in new mining work in Indonesia over the 12 months.

New Hope Corporation’s New Acland mine in the Darling Downs region of Queensland plans to increase production per year to 4.8 million tons, following environmental approval of an expansion.  A further increase in saleable production capacity could be implemented within 18 months, dependent on additional rail and port capacity, and a modest upgrade of existing coal handling and preparation plants, as well as addition mining equipment and employees.  A mining lease application for New Acland to expand to 10Mtpa is in progress.

BHP Billiton had sold its thermal coal Optimum Colliery in South Africa to Optimum Coal Holdings (OCH), including the 6.5 million tons a year Richards Bay Coal Terminal entitlement.  BHP will continue to manage and operate the colliery until completion. BHP will acquire and market all export coal from Optimum over the life of the mine.  Optimum Colliery is located east of Johannesburg in Mpumalanga Province.  The mine produced 11.6Mt of saleable steam coal in the 12 months to June 2007, including 5.4 Mt of export coal, and has a workforce of 1,070 people and 1,397 contractors.

Centennial Coal’s Mandalong Mine has a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with AGL Energy that captures inseam methane gas that would otherwise be expelled and turning it into carbon dioxide or used to generate electricity onsite in a new two-phase sustainable project.  AGL and Centennial will jointly design, own and operate the flare and the power station, and sell electricity from the plant back to Mandalong.  The companies plan to have the methane flare commissioned with a 12-month period and, pending approvals, the station installed and commissioned within the following 12 months.

The Rudd Government has granted $A500 million to establish a fund that will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Australia’s coal-fired power stations.  The allocation is for the development of the National Clean Coal Fund to support the National Clean Coal Initiative, which will support strategies for low emission technologies out to 2030.  Coal producers are contributing more than $1 billion in funding through COAL21, which was established in 2006,and will be used for clean coal technologies including carbon capture and storage.

Brisbane’s Sedgman has a $A45 million contract with Peabody Energy’s Millennium mine near Moranbah in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.  The two-year contract is for overseeing the operation of the coal handling and preparation plant at Millennium. The Millennium mine is adjacent to BHP Mitsui Coal’s Poitrel project and the companies have agreed to share coal infrastructure with a total amount capacity of 6 million tons.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. plans to take a stake in a $978 million coal-fired power plant in the United Arab Emirates.  The country is looking at coal-fueled power because of a shortage of natural gas.

Rohit Ferro-Tech Ltd, Mumbai, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with PT Pacific Samudra Perkasa to acquire 60 percent stake in PT Palopo Indah Rava and PT Bara Prima Mandiri through its Singapore unit, SKP Overseas Pte Ltd.  Both companies have mining concessions and related licenses in the Central Kalimantan area, with Rava holding reserves of about 20 million tons of thermal coal and Mandiri holding 5 million tons of coking coal.

Coal generates some 30 percent of power in the 27-nation European Union, according to Euracoal of Brussels.   That rises to more than half in the U.S. and about two-thirds in China.  Growth will be fastest in developing nations outside the 30-member, Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, reports the International Energy Agency.

Australia reports 56 coal projects worth $A23 billion are undergoing feasibility and pre-feasibility studies and 24 projects are at an advanced stage, which includes a $1.1 billion Kestrel extension.  Overall, there are a record $70.5 billion advanced minerals and energy projects in Australia.  The largest coal mine development is Rio Tinto’s Kestrel project, which expects to add about 1.7 million tons per year of coking coal capacity from 2012. 

South Africa’s Sasol SOLJ.J. and India’s Tata Group are collaborating to acquire coal fields for coal-to-liquid ventures in India. Sasol has similar plans in China.  An Indian consultancy firm has zeroed in on three blocks in the eastern state of Orissa’s Talcher valley – Srirampur, Radhikapur and Ramachandi – which have 8.5 billion tons of coal reserves.  Tata plans to invest $6-$7 billion in the project that would require some 1.5 billion tons of coal over a 40-year period.

Custom Fluidpower has opened a new Queensland facility in Banyo, north of Brisbane.  The company has branches in Brisbane, Mackay, Emerald, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. Custom Fluidpower specializes in hydraulic, pneumatic and lubrication products and services for the mining, industrial and materials handling industries.

Linc Energy Ltd, Brisbane, and Huadian Coal Industry Group have formed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to utilize Linc’s UCG technology and expertise in Gas-to-Liquids within China.  The two groups will investigate investment opportunities whereby Huadian Coal may invest in Linc Energy and possibly some of Linc Energy’s Australia projects.  Huadian Coal produces over 30 million tons of coal a year and own in excess of 23 billion tons of coal in 21 provinces throughout China.  Linc Energy is Australia’s leader in clean coal technology, featuring two processes known as Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) clean coal technology and Coal to Liquids.

Siemens Energy plans to deliver two of five coal gasifiers to Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group in northwest China. The gasifiers have a thermal capacity of 500 megawatts each and will be installed at the Ningxia coal-to-polypropylene plant.  Completion is expected by 2010 with an hourly production capacity of some 540,000 cubic meters of syngas, which will be converted to polypropylene plastic.  In the process hard coal, lignite and other substances including biomass, petcoke and refinery residues will be converted to syngas.  Pollutants such as sulphur and carbon dioxide are removed.

AES Corp., Arlington, VA, has sold its stake in a coal mine and power plant in Kazakhstan to London’s Kazakhmys PLC for $1.1 billion in proceeds and up to $381 million over three years to manage and operate the facilities for Kazakhmys.  The coal-fired power plant, with available capacity of some 2,250 megawatts, and the coal mine are both in northern Kazakhstan.

Hwange Colliery Company of Zimbabwe has a contract to export 10,000 tons of coal to Namibia.  The deal comes within one week of the conclusion of another export agreement in terms of which HCC will supply 300,000 tons of coal fines to Chilanga Cement Company of Zambia over a period of 24 months.  The contract awaits approval of the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe.

Strategic Natural Resources (SNR) of London, developing the Elitheni coal mine reports that the mine’s measured coal resource has more than doubled to 25.8 million tons after an analysis of the latest drilling results.  Located near Indwe in the Eastern Cape province supplies an independent power project in South Africa.

Fushan International Energy Group Ltd, Hong Kong, China, will pay $1.4 billion for coking coal-mining assets in China’s Shanxi province from Fortune Dragon Group Ltd.  Fortune Dragon is 7.5 percent owned by Fushan’s controlling shareholder and chairman, Wong Lik Ping, and 56.92 percent by businessman Xing Libin.

PT United Tractors of Indonesia is conducting a due diligence study of a coal mine it wants to acquire in Kalimantan, which has a reserve of some 12.5 million tons and is priced at $80 million.  Negotiations are in the final stages and the acquisition is expected by the end of 2008.  Earlier, PT United acquired PT Tuha Turangga Agung with a coal reserve of 40 million tons.

Conal Holding Company (CHC) has plans to invest $450 million to build a modern 200-megawatt coal–powered plant in Kamanga village, Maasim, Sarangani Province.  Feasibility studies and technical surveys are nearly completed, and construction is expected to start by mid-2009.  The first construction phase will be done in three years.  CHC is a joint venture between the Alcantara Group of Companies and Thai Power firm EGKO.  CHC has hired Finland’s Enprima Limited for technical and engineering design and Berkman Systems, Inc. for environmental management and monitoring service.