Coal Age

NOV 2015

Coal Age Magazine - For nearly 100 years, Coal Age has been the magazine that readers can trust for guidance and insight on this important industry.

Issue link: https://coal.epubxp.com/i/603417

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 6 of 59

The plan will require power plants to reduce emissions of car- bon dioxide (CO 2 ) by 32% from 2005 levels by 2030, 9% more than the EPA originally proposed. States must develop and implement plans that ensure the power plants in their state — either individu- ally, together or in combination with other measures — achieve the interim CO 2 emissions performance rates between 2022 and 2029 and the final CO 2 emission performance rates, rate-based goals or mass-based goals by 2030. Murray Energy filed a second lawsuit that challenges the green- house gas standards for new power plants. "For more than three years, the Obama EPA has effectively banned the permitting, financing or construction of new coal-fired power plants by announcing impossible carbon standards," the company said. "This illegal action continues to devastate the United States coal industry and the jobs and livelihoods that depend on it, and we are asking the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to finally put a prompt end to these illegal actions." Patriot Coal Completes Chapter 11 Nearly six months after first filing its voluntary petitions, West Virginia-based producer Patriot Coal announced October 28 it had completed its bankruptcy and that its plan of reorganization was complete. With that, Blackhawk Mining has completed its acquisition of six Appalachian mining complexes from Patriot; Blackhawk President Nicholas Glancy said the takeover of Rocklick, Wells, Panther, Paint Creek, Kanawha Eagle, and the Midland Trail min- ing complexes will strengthen its capital structure and liquidity position while enhancing its met coal portfolio. "Today's closing represents a transformative moment for Blackhawk Mining," Glancy said. "This transaction positions the company for continued, long-term success despite the market weakness in the sector." He added that the company expects to "promptly" resume the mines' production. The remaining assets that it was to sell to Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund's (VCLF) ERP Compliant Fuels, including the Corridor G and Federal complexes, has also been completed. "We are pleased to have reached the successful conclusion of this process, which we believe represents the best possible out- n e w s c o n t i n u e d Australia Approves Carmichael Mine Again During mid-October, Queensland Minister for the Environment Greg Hunt re-approved Adani's proposed $16 billion Carmichael mine fol- lowing a reconsideration of the project subject to conditions. The p roject, based in the Galilee Basin 160 km northwest of Clermont, is expected to produce and export 60 million metric tons of coal per year and create 3,800 jobs. According to Hunt, the latest approval would be "subject to 36 of the strictest conditions in Australian his- tory." In August, a federal court revoked an environmental approval granted to Adani in July 2014, saying that Hunt's office failed to include provisions to protect a skink and a snake. Chinese Coal Firms Suffer as Market Softens More than one-half of the listed Chinese coal companies that have released earnings reports for the first three quarters of the year have reported losses, according to China Daily. Among the 27 coal companies that have released their profit statements, 14 reported losses. Shaanxi Coal Industry Co. Ltd. was the worst hit in the sector after it posted losses of 1.8 billion yuan ($284 million) in the first nine months, followed by China National Coal Group Corp. with 1.7 billion yuan ($273 million). Many companies, including China Pingmei Shenma Group, SDIC Xinji Energy Co. Ltd. and Datong Coal Mine Group, reported losses of more than 1 billion yuan ($162 mil- lion) at the end of September. Many companies attributed the losses to the domestic economic slowdown, overcapacity in the coal indus- try and sluggish power consumption that have pushed down coal prices. China Shenhua Energy Co. Ltd. posted 16.6 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) in profits during the first three quarters, down 44% from the same period last year. World's Largest Coal Mine Methane Oxidation Project Goes Live Dürr Systems' Clean Technology Systems (CTS) has completed the installation and commissioning of the world's largest ventilation air methane/coal mine methane (VAM/CMM) oxidation and utilization project at the Gaohe coal mine, which is owned by the Lu'An Coal Mining Group in Shanxi Province, China. This project was formally put into operation in May. It enables 8.9 million normal cubic meters (m 3 at ideal conditions) of methane per year to be used for power generation and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 1.4 million metric tons of CO 2 equivalent per year. Methane's global warming potential is 25 times more than that of CO 2 . Up to 1,020,000 Nm 3 /h of ventilation air methane and 60,000 Nm 3 /h of coal mine methane are thermally oxidized in the project using Durr's Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO) technology. Up to 300,000 Nm 3 /h of hot exhaust gas is delivered to a boiler to generate water steam, which is used for the generation of up to 30 megawatts of electricity by a turbine generator. Charges Come Down in Obed Mountain Spill Two years after a mine tailings containment pond gave way at the Obed Mountain complex in Alberta, Canada, the mine's owner has been charged in the incident. The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) confirmed recently that six charges have been filed against Coal Valley Resources (CVRI) and Sherritt International related to the 670,000 m 3 spill on October 31, 2013. The release sent water, min- Continued on p. 6... November 2015 www.coalage.com 5 W O R L D N E W S ¸ ˛ ˝ ¸ T O P 1 0 C O A L - P R O D U C I N G S T A T E S (in Thousand Short Tons) Week Ending (10/24/15) YTD '15 YTD '14 % Change Wyoming 301,855 318,860 -5.3 West Virginia 82,633 92,591 -10.8 entucky 53,537 64,011 -16.4 Illinois 49,605 46,639 6.4 Pennsylvania 43,433 50,525 -14.0 Montana 35,563 35,117 1.3 Indiana 29,127 31,921 -8.8 Texas 26,701 35,504 -24.8 North Dakota 22,353 23,628 -5.4 Colorado 17,189 19,839 -13.4 U.S. Total 742,500 812,646 -8.6

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Coal Age - NOV 2015