CHARTS: The May mining and metals meltdown

A coal project in northeastern B.C. that is being developed by a Chinese consortium could produce up to 2 million tonnes of met coal annually for the next 30 years, the Globe and Mail reports: A Chinese group is making a $1-billion bet on coal in British Columbia to secure a key raw material for its steel making industry, the latest in a series of moves this year by international companies to stake a claim on Canadian resources.

At least four capesize cargoes of South African coal have been sold back to the original sellers by Chinese buyers during the past month and all are coming to Europe, said sources familiar with the deals. The South African coal is being stockpiled in Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp and at power plants either for sale into Europe or to be burned at the main buyer's own power plants.

Indian infrastructure major Punj Lloyd on Monday announced that its Singapore-based subsidiary, Sembawang Engineers and Constructors, has entered into an agreement to acquire 50% stake in a thermal coal mine company in Indonesia. The Indonesian company is based in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia and the acquisition is to be done through Sembawang Development Pte Ltd, a unit of Sembawang Engineers, the company has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TCK.A and TCK.B, NYSE: TCK) announced today that employees at its Elkview operation in southeast British Columbia have ratified a new five-year agreement, replacing an agreement which expired on October 31, 2010. Production at the mine will resume effective Friday, April 8 following a temporary suspension due to strike action taken by Local 9346 of the United Steelworkers of America on January 30, 2011.

Atlantic Coal plc, the AIM listed open cast coal production and processing company with activities in Pennsylvania, USA, is pleased to announce a production update for the three months ended 31 March 2011 from the Stockton Colliery (‘Stockton'), its opencast anthracite operation in Pennsylvania. During the quarter, Atlantic mined 120,850 tons of run-of-mine coal (‘ROM') and removed 658,785 bank cubic yards (BCYs) of overburden. 62,000 tons of ROM coal was washed which produced 28,376 tons of clean coal.

Teck announced on Saturday that it had reached a settlement deal with Local 9346 of the United Steelworkers of America to end the strike at the company's Elkview operation. According to a company statement, the parties will recommend the memorandum of settlement to their respective groups. The union ratification vote is scheduled for Thursday, April 7, 2011. If the agreement is ratified, production at the mine could resume by Friday, April 8, 2011.

Xstrata and Chugoku Electric have settled an annual coal contract for the Japanese fiscal year starting April 1 at a record level of around $130 per tonne, over 30 percent higher than last year's contract, sources told Reuters on Friday.

The vast majority of Australia's coal mines will not face materially higher costs under a polluter-pays scheme designed to reduce carbon emissions, according to Treasury Department documents released by the government on Friday.

SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (TSX:SGQ)(HK:1878) announced today that new, independent estimates prepared by Minarco-MineConsult ("MMC"), have updated coal resources and proven and probable mineral reserves contained at the company's Ovoot Tolgoi Complex, (comprised of the Ovoot Tolgoi Coal Mine and the Ovoot Tolgoi Underground Deposit). Independent estimates for coal resources have also been updated by MMC for the company's Soumber Deposit (comprised of the Soumber Field and the Biluut Field).