Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest is not the most likely candidate to become the poster boy for Australia’s mining boom. His last big venture ended in disaster for many investors.

US bondholders who bet $400 million on an Australian nickel mining company he founded in the 1990s, Anaconda Nickel Ltd, recouped only 26 cents on the dollar. Anglo American Plc, the world’s second-biggest mining company, fared even worse. Read more » »

John Mead, director of the Coal Research Center at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, said the FutureGen project is an important step in the future of coal.

Mead called the plan “a real-world demonstration” of state-of-the-art technologies.

“If successful, it will show that coal can be used without negative environmental consequences,” h said.Mead said controlling carbon dioxide emissions could prove crucial to future worldwide global climate change.
Read more » »

John Mead, director of the Coal Research Center at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, said the FutureGen project is an important step in the future of coal.

Mead called the plan “a real-world demonstration” of state-of-the-art technologies.

“If successful, it will show that coal can be used without negative environmental consequences,” h said.Mead said controlling carbon dioxide emissions could prove crucial to future worldwide global climate change.
Read more » »

State-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) has invited preliminarily bids for the appointment of consultants for its identified opencast and underground mines and coal washeries.

The selected consultants would be responsible for assessment of the current status of technology covering mining and related activities and benchmark them against the world standards under similar geo-mining set-up, the company said in its advertisement seeking expression of interest.
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Federal and state officials say an eastern Kentucky coal truck driver was killed at Blue Ridge surface mine in Letcher County. The mine is operated by the Cumberland River Coal Company, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Arch Coal.

Roy D. Sturgill, 29, of Isom died around 12:45 a.m. after his truck backed over a dumping point and continued to go down the slope, said Kentucky Natural Resources Commissioner Susan Bush.

Sturgill was employed by Bates Contracting in Whitesburg.

Arch spokeswoman Kim Link said she had no further details.

“We wish to extend our deepest sympathies to Mr. Sturgill’s family, friends and co-workers,” Link said.
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Save Earth for Worl Future, control emission from coal mining and industry.

As the demand for energy continues to grow globally and the cost of oil keeps escalating to unprecedented heights, the demand for coal will likely grow in the future.

U.S. Rep. Frederick C. “Rick” Boucher, D-Va., chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality, said that the federal government is primed to start a major research and development program aimed at controlling carbon dioxide emissions through a carbon capture and sequestration program.
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Compared with other industries, such as information technology and retailing, which have experienced significant merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in recent years, China’s coal sector has been relatively quiet.

However, under a national coal industry policy published last year, the industry is set to experience increased consolidation.

China will build six to eight coal enterprises each with a capacity of 100 million tons, and eight to 10 coal enterprises with a capacity of 50 million tons, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the nation’s top economic planning body.
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Australia’s Newcastle port, a benchmark for Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, rose to a record on concern that demand is outpacing supply.

Prices for coal excluding shipping costs for delivery within three months rose $2.08, or 2.3 percent, to $91.77 a metric ton in the week ended Jan. 4, according to the globalCOAL NEWC Index, an Asian benchmark calculated each Friday. Coal prices surged 73 percent in 2007.
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This is coming on the heels of an agreement signed by the Federal Government and the Kingdom of Norway on how the latter could assist the country to check oil spills and reduce gas flaring.
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had late last year announced the new Gas Flare-out date following the inability of oil companies to meet the January 1, 2008 deadline earlier agreed.
The two countries met in Abuja last October 29 to discuss issues affecting their petroleum sectors under the Memorandum of Understa-nding (MoU) on Development and Co-operation in Oil and Gas Related Industries signed by both countries in 2000.
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On Wednesday the price of a barrel of crude reached 100.09 dollars (67.85 euros) in New York, before retreating at the close to 99.18 dollars.

The price of 100 dollars for a barrel of crude oil is “not necessarily very high” given the high demand of oil and higher production costs, the president of OPEC said Sunday.

Algeria’s Energy Minister Chakib Khelil — who took over the rotating presidency of OPEC on January 1 — told AFP that the current surge must be seen “in relation to the real price”, that is taking into account inflation.
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