Mining

The Colombian Government has hinted that its suspension of new requests for mining concessions may last longer than the initial six months.

A state mining company will be established in South Africa by the end of this month, although much of its work will be contracted out to private companies.

Peabody Energy Australia has awarded Thiess Pty Ltd a contract to extend mining operations at its Burton coal mine in the Bowen basin, Queensland, Australia. The mine extension will maintain the current production level of 2.5 million tpa of high quality coking coal.

January 2011: Kay Sever examines the importance of a great culture between operations and maintenance cannot be over-emphasised because it affects production, cost and morale.

Xstrata plc has announced that it has approved the US$ 1.36 billion development of the Ravensworth North opencast mine in the in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia.

An update on the rescue efforts at the Pike River coal mine in New Zealand.

Caterpillar Inc. and Bucyrus International have entered into an agreement by which Caterpillar will acquire Bucyrus for US $ 8.6 billion, expanding Caterpillar's leadership in the mining equipment industry.

Hancock Prospecting has opened its 100,000 t Alpha test pit. The launch represents “the historic first mining of the Galilee Basin,” in Queensland, Australia.

A new underground coal mine is to be opened in Hamilton County, Illinois, creating approximately 300 construction jobs and 350 permanent jobs.

Demand for met coal has prompted United Coal to reopen the Affinity mine in West Virginia, which has been closed since 1985.

After detecting traces of BTEX around eight coal seam gas wells in southern Queensland, Australia, Origin Energy has suspended drilling operations until it can find the source of the contamination.

According to reports, 1355 small coal mines were shutdown in the first three quarters of this year as part of efforts to restructure China’s mining industry.

The Mining Association of BC has congratulated the international rescue team, which freed the 33 miners stuck underground in Chile.

Under new regulations, China’s mine managers are now required to accompany their workers underground. Failure to do so will result in hefty fines.

Following results from the first coke tests at its Zambeze coal project, Riversdale Mining has announced that the project will produce hard coking coal. The results come from two coal seams, and the company plans to test the remaining seams in Q1 2011.