MPX Energia to mine 3 million tonnes of Colombian coal
Sunday, 20 Sep 2009
Reuters quoted Mr Colombia Jose Alejandro Saade GM of MPX Energia MPX SA as saying that it will produce 3 million tonnes of Colombian coal from its own mines starting in 2011 for its power plants in Brazil and Chile and will sell any surplus for export.
MPX, founded in 2001 by entrepreneur Mr Eike Batista, has 3 coal fired power plants under construction in Brazil and several other projects under development in Brazil and Chile.
Mr Saade said that "The coal we will mine is intended primarily to supply our power plants. We estimate we need 3 million tonnes a year of coal for the three plants under construction. If we find we have more production of coal than we need, we are definitely looking to place this coal in the export market as well as building more plants."
MPX announced 110 million tonnes of coal resources had been found at its La Guajira concessions, to be developed as an opencast mine. It controls 65,000 hectares of coal concessions in La Guajira, where it has concentrated initial exploration. Another 13,000 hectares of coal concessions near Drummond's La Loma mine will be assessed.
He further added that "However, to make sure we are covering all options, we are not ruling out either at this stage having to buy coal from other Colombian producers while the mines are being brought to full capacity. It all depends on what we identify as proven reserves."
MPX's coal based on preliminary analyses is around 0.5% sulphur, 5% to 7% ash as compared with US coal of 1.5% to 4% sulphur. The energy content of MPX's coal will be 10,000 British Thermal Units per pound or above, fairly typical for Colombian coal.
