Mining

No. 3 coal miner in the US, Alpha Natural Resources, has filed for bankruptcy at a court in Richmond, Virginia.

Arch Coal has reported a loss of US$168 million in 2Q15 and expects coal consumption to drop 80 million short t in 2015.

Rhino Resources lost US$8.1 million in 2Q15 as low coal prices, poor rail service at Hopedale mine and low productivity at Pennyrile hit the bottom line.

A round-up of some of this week’s key news items from the international coal industry, from business acquisitions to the latest 2Q15 results.

Andrea Lovato is appointed the new CEO of Tenova. The company has also been organised into two divisions: Metals and Mining.

Vale’s coal business reported a US$102 million loss in 2Q15, improving on the US$128 million loss in the previous quarter.

Constellation Software acquires CAE’s Datamine mining division.

A recent survey by Timetric’s Mining Intelligence Center finds over half of the respondents in Asia and 39% of respondents in Africa are likely to switch OEMS within the next five years.

Consol Energy has announced a second quarter loss of US$603 million following a writedown of its oil and gas assets

Consolidated Mining & Civil Ltd gain a Maptek Sentry monitoring system to use at Havilah Resources Ltd’s Portia gold mine in South Australia.

Peabody Energy has announced a quarterly loss of US$1.01 billion on writedowns of US$900.8 billion on its Australian metallurgical coal operations and US assets for sale.

A joint venture between Aspire Mining and Noble Group: the Ekhgoviin Chuluu Joint Venture has commenced 2015 exploration programme at the Nuurstei metallurgical coal project.

Foresight Energy resumes longwall mining operations at its Deer Run Mine.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded Peabody Energy, indicating a default at the world’s largest private-sector coal miner is now a real possibility.

Cloud Peak Energy is in the process of moving a dragline from its Cordero Rojo mine to its Antelope mine.