ICVL scouring mines in Australia

State consortium International Coal Ventures Ltd (ICVL) is scouring remote outback regions in the hope of acquiring Australian coking coal mine assets, the former chairman of Coal India, which is part of the consortium, said. “ICVL is looking for a large-scale investment in Australia to supply coking coal to India,” MP Narayanan told journalists on a visit to Australia.

Narayanan is currently vice chairman for India in the World Mining Congress. ICVL comprises utility NTPC, Steel Authority of India, iron ore miner NMDC, Coal India and steelmaker Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. The World Mining Congress is a global body of mining engineers and experts with headquarters in Poland.

Metallurgical coal production in Australia is dominated by an alliance between BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi, which yields more than 58 million tonne per year and accounts for about a fifth of global trade. Narayanan said India was prepared to compete against other foreign interests with strong government backing, particularly from China, for mines in Australia, the world’s largest supplier of metallurgical coal.

Narayanan said ICVL was more interested in obtaining ground to mine coking coal to support projected growth in Indian steel making than thermal coal, which the country largely imports from South Africa and Indonesia to make up for shortfalls in domestic production. While India has the fourth-largest proven coal reserves in the world, they are low quality and coking coal makes up only 17% of total reserves.

In FY10, India imported 23 million tonne of coking coal to meet its requirement of around 40 million tonne, accounting for 34% of total coal imports, according to research by Ernst & Young. The demand for coking coal will only increase as new steel capacity comes online, with India’s coking coal requirement expected to reach 90 million tonne by FY20, according to Ernst & Young.

Narayanan said while ICVL was formed to scout out coal investments worldwide, Australia, with an abundance of prospecting ground, was the main target. “Our emphasis is on investment in Australia,” Narayanan said.

Chhatisgarh Hasdeo Arand coal mines in Environmental "No go" areas

The Chhattisgarh government has asked the ministry of environment and forests to reconsider the allocation of coal blocks in Hasdeo- Arand coalfield in the state. The coal blocks are stuck at the forest clearance level as several coalmines identified in the area would necessitate the diversion of forest land.

The ministry of power has also urged the MoEF to take an early decision in view of the urgent requirement of coal from these blocks.

As many as 20 coal blocks have been identified by the Ranchibased Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Ltd. Of these, the environment ministry has received proposals for diversion of forest land for seven coalmines. Proposals of at least four mines- Paturiya-Gidhmuri, Nakiya-I&II, Madanpur (South) and Tara-were examined and rejected by the forest advisory committee because of the dense forest area and the presence of Sal trees.

State Chief Secretary Parampath Joy Oommen said that the Centre must take a comprehensive view on development and admitted that some environment impact could not avoided. He noted that a lot of time, money and energy had already gone into these projects, as forest clearance was one of the last milestones to cross in the development of a power project or coalmine. He said that the forest area in these coal blocks was hardly 2 per cent of the total forest area of the state and that the state had little option but to develop its mineral resources for economic growth.

Oommen suggested thirdparty verification and creation of a special fund for environment management.

Commenting on the issue, Union Power Secretary H.S. Brahma said that the protection of forest land on one hand and economic development on the other should be considered in tandem rather than in isolation. He sought an early decision on the coalmines in the Hasdeo-Arand area so that coal could be made available to the power sector and investment in capacity addition projects did not remain idle.

Adani captures coal deal with Linc Energy Australia

Australia’s Linc Energy has agreed to sell its Galilee coal tenement to Adani Enterprises in a deal worth AUS $3 billion (US$ 2730 million), Linc’s chief executive told news agency.

Under the deal, Linc, whose primary business is underground coal gasification, will receive AUS $500 million in cash and AUS $2 per tonne in royalty for the first 20 years of coal production, Linc’s chief executive officer Peter Bond told Reuters.

Linc has been trying to sell its Teresa and Emerald coal tenements in Queensland for more than two years, after a deal with China’s Xinwen Mining Group for AUS $1.5 billion in 2008 and subsequent talks with Yanzhou Coal fell through. It later expanded sale process to include its Galilee and Pentland coal tenements, which Linc has said have excellent coal mining potential.