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Issue link: https://coal.epubxp.com/i/131326
news continued Continued from pg 8... Gujarat NRE Coking Coal Rejects JSPL Takeover Bid The board of Gujarat NRE Coking Coal has advised company shareholders to reject Jindal Steel and Power's all cash A$221.61 million takeover bid because the offer does not adequately reflect future prospects, Business Line reported. "The offer undervalues your Gujarat shares and does not adequately reflect the company's future prospects," the company said. Jindal Steel and Power, which holds 19.48% stake in Gujarat NRE Coking Coal, made the offer on January 31. JSPL also has a coking coal supply agreement with Gujarat NRE Coking Coal. The offer launched on February 15 through the Australian Securities Exchange has valued Gujarat NRE Coking Coal's shares at A$0.20 apiece. Gujarat NRE Coking Coal is the Australian subsidiary of the Kolkata-based Gujarat NRE Coke. Gujarat NRE Coking Coal has two producing coking coal mines in Australia estimated to have reserves of 125 million metric tons and resources of 651 million metric tons. Coal Asia Accelerates Production Schedule in Philippines Coal Asia Holdings Inc., through subsidiary Titan Mining & Energy Corp. (TMEC), is accelerating the development of its mine in Davao Oriental to move up the target commercial production date to October this year from the original goal of January 2014, according to the Manila Bulletin. In a statement, the company said it is currently evaluating and testing two new large coal deposit areas within its Coal Operating Contract area in Davao Oriental, which was previously undiscovered. The company is making full use of the proceeds from its P800-million initial public offering last October to build up capacity for TMEC and complete its exploration and mine development activities in the Mindanao area. Mitsubishi, BHP Gearing Up for Sale of Australian Coal Mine Mitsubishi Corp. and BHP Billiton have begun preparations to sell a portion of the metallurgical coal mining operations they jointly own in Australia, The Nikkei reported. The Gregory Crinum complex has been producing coking coal since 1979 via open-cut and underground mining. It had an output of roughly 3.7 million metric tons in 2011, accounting for nearly 10% of all of BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance's production. The 50:50 joint venture last year suspended operations at two of its seven already developed coal mines in the state of Queensland. This was due to a deteriorating business environment stemming from falling coal prices, the rising Australian dollar and labor costs. One of these two operations, Gregory Crinum has not been operating since last fall. Mitsubishi and BHP Billiton have begun approaching potential buyers in various countries through financial institutions. They are looking to decide on a buyer in six to nine months. Hit by declining demand from China and elsewhere, the international price of metallurgical coal sank to as low as $170/mt in the October-December period, down from a high of $330 in the April-June quarter of 2011. ˛ 10 www.coalage.com Clemens and Doug Blackburn—had any relevant Appalachian mining experience." Last fall, Frasure auctioned off some of its mining equipment. The company, which had operated seven surface mines in eastern Kentucky and employed almost 600 people, ceased active mining in the commonwealth. In asserting the need for the court to appoint a trustee, Spitzer said Trinity's current management is "wholly incapable of managing and/or restructuring Trinity. Trinity's management has lost the trust and confidence of its lenders, creditors and other stakeholders." Chip Bowles, a Louisville, Ky., attorney representing Trinity, declined to comment on the involuntary bankruptcy filing. Essar officials could not be reached for comment. Trinity had until midMarch to file its formal response with the court. USGS Releases PRB Reserves Report The Powder River Basin (PRB) of Wyoming and Montana contains about 162 billion tons of recoverable coal from a total of 1.07 trillion tons of in-place resources, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey assessment. This assessment also estimates that 25 billion tons of those resources are currently economical to recover, the first such estimate released by the USGS for coal for an entire basin. Considering that the U.S. now mines roughly 300 to 400 million tpy from the PRB, this reserve would last at least 75 years. The PRB contains the largest deposits of low-sulfur subbituminous coal in the world. This study is significant, however, because it illustrates that only a relatively small percentage of in-place coal resources are technically and economically recoverable. The key to this study was taking advantage of the wealth of recently available geologic data from the interpretation of thousands of new drill logs from coalbed methane development in the PRB. More than 8,000 new drill holes were added to the original Gillette coalfield database alone. About 30,000 total data points were used in the entire PRB assessment. This geologic information interpreted from well information of the recent drilling provided an unprecedented level of data about the coal resources for the basin. Walter Energy Makes Progress in a Challenging Environment In its fourth quarter earnings report, Walter Energy, the world's largest publicly-traded "pure-play" met coal producer, announced results that reflect cost control initiatives, aggressive production management and disciplined capital spending, in light of significantly lower global pricing levels. Revenues were $479 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, down from $703 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 primarily due to reduced demand and pricing for met coal. The realized price of met coal declined 39% compared with the fourth quarter of 2011. Walter Energy reported a net loss for the quarter of $71 million. For the year, the company recorded revenues of $2.4 billion and a net loss of $1.1 billion. During 2012, Walter Energy achieved record metallurgical coal production of 11.7 million metric tons and improved its cash cost per ton for met coal by 6%. "Walter Energy made solid operational progress during 2012, in the face of challenging market conditions. We safely increased March 2013