It is reported that coal mining junior Keaton Energy would start coal production at its Klipfontein project, in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province, immediately after minerals & energy department granted its 74% held subsidiary, Keaton Mining, a mining permit for the project.

Mr James Duncan spokesperson of Keaton Energy said that it had appointed mining contractor Shumba Mining, which was local to the area in Mpumalanga, and already on site. It is expecting to sell its first coal to a local merchant next month. The mine would produce about 40,000 tonnes per month. Read more » »

Australian innovative energy company Linc Energy Ltd. announced late Thursday that it has agreed to sell its Teresa coal exploration permits to China-based Xinwen Mining Group for A$1.5 billion. The company had revealed in July that it intends to sell the Teresa coal deposits. Following the announcement, the Linc Energy stock is climbing nearly 41% on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Read more » »

Xinwen Mining Group Ltd., producer of more than 35 million metric tons a year of coal in China, agreed to buy coal exploration permits in Australia for A$1.5 billion ($1.2 billion) to expand overseas.

Xinwen will buy the Teresa licenses in Queensland state from Linc Energy Ltd., Brisbane-based Linc Energy said today in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange. Linc had a record gain in Sydney trading on the exchange.
Read more » »

Power-station coal prices at Australia’s Newcastle port, a benchmark for Asia, were little changed last week as supply constraints at a storm-affected port in Vietnam offset declines in the price of oil.

The weekly index for power-station coal prices at the New South Wales state port fell 26 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $161.89 a metric ton in the week ended Aug. 29, according to the globalCOAL NEWC Index. Exports from the port in the week ended 7 a.m. today jumped 31 percent to 1.98 million tons, Newcastle Port Corp. said on its Web site.
Read more » »

Australian Mining Boom Stokes Profits, Narrows Record Deficit

Australia’s mining boom, stoked by Chinese demand for coal and iron ore, helped boost company profits by the most in more than seven years and narrow the nation’s current account deficit from a record.

Company profits advanced 14.3 percent in the second quarter, more than six times the 2.3 percent median estimate of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, the government said today. A separate report showed the current account deficit narrowed for the first time in two years. Read more » »

Cia. Vale do Rio Doce fell 27 percent this year in Sao Paulo, heading for the first annual decline since 2000. Now analysts say the world’s largest iron-ore producer is poised for its best performance in a decade.

Vale may double in the next year, more than twice the expected gains for the world’s biggest mining companies, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Plc, according to the median of six analysts’ forecasts compiled by Bloomberg.
Read more » »

Chinese top coal producer China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd announced that it lifted the value ceiling of coal deals with China Datang Corp for 2008, 2009 and 2010. The value ceiling for 2008 rose 25%. That for 2009 hiked 173% to CNY 10.802 billion and that for 2010 surged 160% to CNY 11.83 billion.

The move signifies that Shenhua Energy is fairly confident of future coal markups, and is expected to bring more economic return to the company. Mr Huang Qing Shenhua Energy Board Secretary said that it would possibly continue to adjust the ceiling of coal deals in the future.
Read more » »

The South Korean company may also develop a coal deposit and transmission facilities as part of the power project, and expand into electricity sales, the Seoul-based company said today in an e-mailed statement.

Daewoo International Corp., a South Korean trading company, may invest about $300 million in a coal- fired power project in Madagascar, the company’s second electricity-generating venture in the country. The shares jumped.
Read more » »

The suspension was “due to a request for information made on August 13 by the Commission which has not been fulfilled by the parties”, the Commission said. It has already expressed concern over the strength of a combined company in the iron ore, uranium, coal and aluminium markets.

The European Commission said it had stopped the clock on its investigation of BHP Billiton’s plans to acquire rival Rio Tinto as it was waiting for more information from the mining giant before it could proceed. Read more » »

Coal India will give preference to companies that offer it an opportunity to develop and operate coal mines abroad in retrospect, the company said in its offer for expression of interest.

Coal India Ltd is awaiting expression of interest from corporations for jointly producing coal from 18 of its abandoned underground mines to secure future supplies of the fossil fuel.

A company executive told DNA Money that the joint venture partner doesn’t
necessarily have to be a foreign company. “It can be an Indian company with operations or access to coal fields outside the country.”
Read more » »