Coal rally, cost cuts help Teck Resources swing to profit

Donald Blankenship, whose former coal company Massey Energy was fined a record $10.8 million for safety violations connected to the worst mining accident in 40 years, has started a new mining company in Kentucky.

Workers at Xstrata’s Ulan Coal project north of Sydney went on strike for 24 hours on the weekend after learning several electrical staff had been dismissed.

Brazil's Vale is set to move its first coking coal shipment next week from its Moatize mine in Mozambique, sources told Reuters on Tuesday. This will be the first coking coal shipment, after 3 thermal coal shipments, and is destined for steelmaker ArcelorMittal's South African unit. Vale last month approved a $6 billion expansion of Moatize to double output to 22 million tonnes per year.

Facing criminal and civil penalties over the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster, Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE:ANR) will pay $200 million to settle a suit leveled by the U.S. Attorney in Charleston, West Virigina.

Anglo American said on Tuesday its board had approved the $1.7 billion Grosvenor metallurgical coal project in Queensland, Australia, which is expected to produce five million tonnes per year over a projected life of 26 years. The London-based diversified miner said it plans to triple production of met coal in Australia over the next 8 years.

Tata Motors, India’s market leader in commercial vehicles and the world’s fourth largest truck manufacturer, has launched the new TATA Prima 3138.K 8X4 tipper equipped with an Allison 4430R transmission at the 6th International Construction Equipment and Construction Technology Trade Fair (EXCON) 2011 in Bengaluru, which is organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry. The company states that the tipper model is ideal for carrying overburden in coal, iron ore, limestone and other applications involved in the heavy mining industry.

The Philippines will offer 30 coal exploration projects in the central and northern provinces, where mining is not yet banned that may need total investments of $600 million at a tender to be held in the first quarter of 2012.

London-listed Churchill Mining Plc is threatening Indonesia to seek international arbitration, saying that the company was unlawfully deprived of a US$1.8 billion coal discovery in the jungles of Borneo Island. The East Kutai project is a huge resource with a JORC compliant estimate of 2.7 billion tonnes of coal, acquired by Churchill in 2007 through an acquisition of a 75% stake in Indonesian group Ridlatama.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that eight mines around the country have received letters putting them on notice that each has a potential pattern of violations of mandatory health or safety standards under Section 104(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. The PPOV screening from which these letters resulted represents the second since MSHA established the current criteria and procedures in September 2010. The eight mines that received letters are as follows: (Click on the headline to read the list and rest of story)