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news continued TOP 10 COAL-PRODUCING STATES (in Thousand Short Tons) Week Ending (7/28/12) YTD '12 22,218 74,467 59,060 33,201 22,817 22,714 22,493 21,030 16,966 15,929 Wyoming West Virginia Kentucky Pennsylvania Texas Illinois Montana Indiana Colorado Ohio U.S. Total 581,836 YTD '11 241,363 79,626 62,781 34,611 25,792 20,782 21,530 21,251 14,554 15,869 615,947 % Change -7.9 -6.5 -5.9 -4.1 -11.5 9.3 4.5 -1.0 16.6 0.4 -5.5 burn Illinois Basin coal," he said. "We are projecting the IB will grow from 10 to 20 million tons over the next 12 to 18 months." Alliance's venerable Dotiki underground mine in western Kentucky is transitioning from the No. 9 seam coal to the No. 13 seam, "so we've had some productivity losses there," he said. He added, however: "We expect the No. 13 to be productive once we get there." Dotiki is operated by Webster County Coal, an Alliance subsidiary. Construction also continues on the new Gibson South under- ground mine in Gibson County, Ind. Meanwhile, the new Tunnel Ridge longwall mine in Ohio County, W.Va., and Washington County, Pa., is ramping up. Tunnel Ridge produced almost 300,000 tons in the second quarter, and is expected to reach 900,000 tons in the third quarter and 1.2 million tons in the fourth quarter. It should hit 6.2 mil- lion tons in 2013 and max out at 6.5 million to 6.8 million tons in 2014. PBS Idles Mining Operations PBS Coals and its affiliate, RoxCoal, will immediately idle a portion of its deep and surface mines in Somerset County. Production schedules for the remaining mines have been adjusted to match market demand. These changes have resulted in the layoff of approximately 225 employees. The affected employees have been officially briefed on the situation. PBS attributes the necessity for these layoffs to coal market conditions and increased pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has resulted in increased costs. "The decision to idle our surface mine operations is a difficult one, but in an effort to manage our inventory and to balance coal production with expected customer demand and shipping sched- ules, we are faced with making adjustments which unfortunately will impact our workforce," said Lynn Shanks, president and CEO. "Both the foreign and domestic coal markets remain soft due to weak economic growth and activity." Cloud Peak Energy, Ambre Energy Lock Horns During mid-July Cloud Peak Energy filed a lawsuit against Ambre Energy Ltd., regarding a dispute over the future of the Decker Coal mine. Located near Sheridan, Wyo., in the northern Powder River Basin, the mine is adjacent to Cloud Peak's Spring Creek mine, a lead- ing west coast exporter. Australian-based Ambre became a U.S. coal producer when the company acquired the former Kiewit Coal Properties' (KCP) 50% inter- ests in two mines in November of 2011 from Level 3 Communications. August 2012 W ORLD N E W S ¸ ˛ ˝ ¸ Coal Miners Take to the Streets in Spain Wearing caplamps, thousands of miners chanting and throwing firecrackers marched through the center of Madrid in the early morning hours of July 11 in protest against government austerity measures, according to the Telegraph. Joined by trade unionists in the capital, the miners rallied noisily at the climax of a 44-day protest against a 60% cut in coal subsidies which they say will force mines to close and put many out of work. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced more pain in a new series of taxes and spending cuts. Zambian Miners Kill Chinese Manager during Pay Protest Chinese mine manager Wu Shengzai was killed by protesting min- ers after being hit by a trolley. The trolley was pushed toward him by rioting miners as he ran underground seeking refuge, according to BBC News Africa. A second Chinese manager was injured, as were several Zambians, during the riot. The workers were on strike at the mine in protest against delays in implementing a new mini- mum wage. They were angry their wages were lower than a new minimum of $220 a month paid to shop workers. The Chinese- owned Collum coal mine is located in Sinazongwe, 325 km south of the Lusaka. Last year, the Zambian government dropped charges against two Chinese managers accused of attempted murder after they fired on miners at the Collum mine during a pay dispute. Cascading Blackouts Leave Northern India in the Dark A huge power failure in Delhi caused a cascading blackout, which left much of northern India without electricity. At one point more than 620 million people, more than twice the U.S. population, had no access to electricity. The lights in Delhi and seven states went out around 2:00 a.m. July 31 and power was fully restored mid-day August 2. Chaos reigned in a sweltering Indian summer. The country's inability to properly fund coal mines and power plants has now reared its head. Six Miners Perish in Mexican Mine Accident Another fatal coal mining incident has taken the lives of six miners near Muzquiz in the Mexican state of Coahuila and critics are ramping up their call for stronger regulations, the Los Angeles Timesreported. In late July, an explosion at another nearby mine killed seven workers. The national miners' union claims that 200 miners have died in Coahuila since 2006. The mine's owner, Altos Hornos de Mexico, claimed that modern safety features allowed them to evacuate 285 miners after the collapse. Cliffs Sells Its Sonoma Interest Cliffs Natural Resources plans to sell its 45% interest in the Sonoma coal mine and prep plant, located in Queensland, Australia, to QCoal Sonoma Pty Ltd. for A$141 million in cash. The assets to be sold include Cliffs' interests in the Sonoma mine along with its ownership of the affiliated prep plant. The transaction should close during the fourth quarter of 2012. Cliffs purchased its 45% economic interest in Sonoma in 2007. The mine's 2011 production and sales volumes totaled 3.5 million Continued on pg 6... 100th Anniversary Special Issue www.coalage.com 5