Decision on coal mine close to UK reserve ‘could spell end’ to industry

Business Insider reports that the heart of the American coal industry, Central Appalachia, could soon be a shadow of its former self. According to the US Department of Energy, the amount of Appalachian coal will be less than half that mined in 2008 within the next three years, says Business Insider, because most of the easy-to-reach resources have been exhausted.

A recent journal article says that coal-fired power is harming the US economy more than it is helping it. The article in the American Economic Review, titled “Environmental Accounting for Pollution in the United States Economy,” essentially states that coal plants are responsible for a quarter of gross external damages (GED) to the US economy, measured in terms of sickness and death caused by major pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Russian mining group Severstal plans to boost production of coking coal and expects iron ore mines in Liberia and Brazil to come online by 2017, the company said Thursday in a presentation to investors in London. CEO Vadim Larin predicted the price of both materials used in steelmaking will remain high and forecasts limited supply growth as current market turmoil delays new projects, Platts reported:

With the price of coal off about $5 a metric tonne, coal-mining companies are looking more tempting to acquirers. The Australian reports that Yancoal Australia, fresh from purchasing Wesfarmers' Premier Coal Mine in Western Australia for $297 million last week and Syntech Resources last month for $202.5 million, could buy more coal mines.

A coal miner died on Tuesday while working at the Kellingley Colliery in Knottingley, North Yorkshire. A second colleague was trapped in the same incident and was trapped below the waist. He was rescued and brought to the surface. No names were released pending notification of kin.

The Blue Mountains Gazette reports the Australian Coal Association says $1.3 billion in proposed government compensation would delay by only one year the premature closure of four of the 21 mines that an industry survey found were under threat from the government's carbon tax. On top of the carbon tax set to kick in mid-2012, Australian miners also have to contend with the new minerals resource rent tax set at an effective 22.5% rate on the so-called super-profits of the extractive industries.

Griffin Coal, which was acquired by Lanco Group early this year, may generate revenues of up to USD 160 million this fiscal, according to a senior company official. The miner may produce coal up to 4 million tonnes during the March, 2011-March, 2012, period, the Lanco Group official said, requesting anonymity.

The EPA will shut down an estimated 20% of the nation’s coal plants through the ground-level ozone rule (the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) ) through cap and trade that is about to be implemented in January 2012.

India's top iron ore miner NMDC Limited is close to acquiring a coking coal mine in Russia with an estimated reserve of about 70 million tonnes. The company will seek board approval for the acquisition within a few days.