Vale coal production down y/y in 3Q15

Brazilian mining company, Vale, recorded coal production of 2.1 million t in 3Q15, according to its latest quarterly production report. This represents a 2% increase on 2Q15 but a 12.3% drop on 3Q14, reflecting the halt in production at two of the company’s Australian mines.

In Australia, the company’s only remaining operating mine, the underground Carborough Downs mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, produced 730 000 t of coal in 3Q15. This was a record output for a third quarter, said the company – 17.8% higher than 3Q14 – but was still 1.6% lower than 2Q15.

Coal production at Carborough Downs for the nine months to September stood at 2.01 million t – a rise of 56.7% on the almost 1.28 t mined over the same period in 2014. Despite the impressive ramp up at Carborough Downs, the company’s Australian coal production was down over the first nine months of the year on the same period in 2014, following the halt of production at the Integra Coal and Isaac Plains opencast mines in 2014. Production was 2.86 million t in 2014, compared to 2.01 million t this year.

Carborough Downs produces mainly hard and semi-soft metallurgical coal with PCI coal as a secondary product, according to the company website.

At the Moatize coal operations in Mozambique, production was just over 1.32 million t in 3Q15, 52 000 t higher than the previous quarter, despite two weeks of plant shutdown in July 2015. Of this, 914 000 t was metallurgical coal and 408 000 t was thermal coal.

Coal production in 3Q14 was 1.27 million t.

For the nine months to September 2015, production at Moatize was just under 3.5 million t, up from 3.48 million t over the same period in 2014.

Development of the Nacala Logistics Corridor (NLC) continues with completion of the brownfield sections of the railway expected to be completed by the end of this year. The NCL has already transported 2760 wagons, discharging 150 000 t of coal, according to the company.

Edited by Jonathan Rowland.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/mining/21102015/vale-coal-production-down-year-on-year-in-3q15-3041/