Coal Age

MAR 2014

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"The $150 million infusion is for a multitude of purposes," said an attorney involved in the bankruptcy case who asked not to be identified. "In short, it's funding required to fund the final reorganization plan of Trinity Coal. It includes compensating creditors and to continue opera- tions of the enterprise." Those operations include the Deep Water and related metallurgical coal mining complex in Fayette County, W.Va. Deep Water will keep running, the attorney said. But at this time, "There are no current plans to reopen mining operations in eastern Kentucky, but those plans may change," he said. Reclamation work also will continue in West Virginia and eastern Kentucky, he added. Trinity had no intention to restart the idled operations that include Prater Branch Resources, Little Elk Mining and Levisa Fork in eastern Kentucky, and Falcon Resources and North Springs Resources in West Virginia. Idled for months, the Kentucky operations produced compli- ance and low-sulfur thermal coal. "The debtor never planned to reopen the mines," he said. "Essar had the opportunity to dispose of those mines and Essar said no, keep it all together. So, that suggests Essar may have plans to reopen at least some of the mines." In late February, Susan Fennessey, an Essar attorney in New York City, declined to comment on whether the company has any definitive plans to reopen the mines. EIA Launches Coal Data Browser The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently launched an interactive, online Coal Data Browser (www.eia.gov/ coal/data/browser) that brings together in a single tool compre- hensive government information, statistics and visualizations about the U.S. coal sector. The Coal Data Browser gives users easy access to a vast array of coal information from EIA's electricity and coal surveys. The browser also allows users to dig through data from the Mine Safety and Health Administration and through coal trade information from the U.S. Census Bureau. "EIA's Coal Data Browser provides users with a level of access to coal data they've never had before," said EIA Administrator Adam Sieminski. "This powerful data access and visualization tool provides 'one-stop shopping' for information about coal." Coal Data Browser users can: • Map coal imports and exports by country and by the U.S. ports that handle the coal; • Map where mines send their coal and where power plants obtain their coal; • Break down coal receipts by sulfur content, ash content, heat con- tent and mine; • See changes in coal prices; n e w s c o n t i n u e d completed by 2016. The second and third stages are scheduled to take place between 2019 and 2021. Fenxi to Invest USD 500 Million to Mine Coal in Kenya Chinese mining firm Fenxi plans to invest at least $500 million for coal production in Kenya, after obtaining approval from the govern- ment. The Chinese firm has formed a joint venture with locally owned Great Lakes Corp. to form Fenxi Mui Mining Corp., and esti- mates 2016 as the earliest date that mining of coal could start. The concession agreement for coal exploration area C and D in Mui Basin, eastern Kenya, was signed during December 2013 with the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Mining, National Treasury and Kitui County Government, among others. The ministry of energy said that two areas in Kitui county, about 180 km away from Nairobi, have potential for 400 million metric tons of coal for power generation among other uses. Glencore Lowers Steam Coal Price to Japan Glencore Xstrata Plc, which sets prices for Australian power-station coal contracts, is poised to sell the fuel to Japanese utilities at the lowest level in five years as supplies swell, according to Bloomberg . According to the median estimate of five analysts, electricity pro- ducers in Japan, the world's second-biggest buyer of thermal coal, may pay $88 per metric ton (mt) for annual supplies starting April 1. That would be the lowest since 2009 and down from last year's price of $95/mt. Spot prices fell 7.3% in January to $80.01/mt, decreasing the most since June. Indonesia Set to Cap Coal Output After flexing its regulatory muscle with the ore export ban, the Indonesian government has gone one step further in exerting its power over the mineral sector by closely supervising the coal mining industry including a production quota for coal, according to The Jakarta Post . The effort to limit coal output is reflected in the lower production target set by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry: 397 million metric tons (mt) this year from 421 million mt in 2013, or a 6% decrease. R. Sukhyar, director general of minerals and coal at the ministry, said that he had prepared a move to control the production by assessing the work plan of mining companies that have mostly set higher production targets this year. "The easiest way to control coal production is through the work plan and budget of the companies," Sukhyar said. "We will review their WP&Bs.;" In the past few years, the country has seen booming coal pro- duction, making it a major coal exporting country, although Indonesia's coal reserves only account for about 2% to 3% of the global reserves. According to figures from the mining ministry, reserves stand at a little less than 32 billion mt, of which 8.9 billion mt are proven. Significant jumps in national coal production were seen in 2012 and 2011, respectively, with 15% and 28% rises as mining companies boosted production to reap the benefit of increased selling prices. Continued from pg 6... 8 www.coalage.com March 2014 ˛ Continued on Page 10... CA_pg04-23_V2_CA_pg06-23 3/12/14 12:40 PM Page 8

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