Cerrejón
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cerrejón is a coal mine located in the Guajira department in the north of Colombia. It is the largest mining operation in Colombia and among the largest open-pit coal mines in the world. The legal entity managing the Cerrejón operation is known as the Cerrejón Coal Company, and was started as a joint venture of three international mining firms BHP Billiton, Anglo American Plc and Glencore International AG, each with a 33.3% shareholding; in 2006, Glencore's operations were bought by Xstrata Plc.
The output of the mine in 2004 was 24.9 million tons (compared to total global hard coal production of 4,600 million tons). Cerrejón contributes about half of Colombia's coal exports of 52 million tons, with Colombia ranked sixth among major coal exporting nations.[1] The company plans to expand production to 32 million tons by 2008.[2]
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[edit] History
The Cerrejón mine is divided into three main zones. Development of the north zone began in 1976 as a joint venture between Carbocol (owned by the Colombian government) and Intercor (owned by ExxonMobil). The total investment in the project, including the mine, port and infrastructure, was approximately US$3,000 million. The original joint venture was for 33 years, but the expiration date has since been extended to 2034.
In November 2000, the government sold its 50% share in the venture to a consortium of BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Glencore International. This consortium acquired the remaining 50% from ExxonMobil in February 2002, for US$366 million.
Production in the central zone began in 1981. It was owned by several companies before being acquired by Glencore International in 1995. Anglo American and BHP Billiton joined the venture in 1997 and 2000, respectively.
The three partners acquired the exploration and production rights to the south zone in 1997. As of 2005, this zone remained at the evaluation stage.
[edit] Production
The operation is an open-pit mine, in which the topsoil and other material is cleared away to expose the coal seam. The coal is loaded onto trucks that carry it to the crushing facilities and then to two silos, from where it is loaded onto trains.
The company has its own 150km standard-gauge railroad, connecting the mine to its coal-loading terminal at Puerto Bolívar on the Caribbean coast. There are two 120-car unit trains, each carrying 12,000 tons of coal per trip. The round-trip time for each train, including loading and unloading, is about 12 hours. The coal facilities at the port are capable of loading 4,800 tons per hour on to vessels of up to 175,000 tons of dead weight.
The mine, railroad and port operate 24 hours per day.
Cerrejón directly employs 4,600 workers, with a further 3,800 employed by contractors.
The reserves at Cerrejón are low-sulfur, low-ash, bituminous coal. The coal is mostly used for electric power generation, with some also used in steel manufacture. The surface mineable reserves for the current contract are 330 million tons. However, total proven reserves to a depth of 300 metres are 3,000 million tons.
[edit] References
- ^ Coal Facts. World Coal Institute (2005). Retrieved on 2006-03-09.
- ^ "Cerrejón Coal Mine Expansion to 32 Million Tons", presentation to Colombia Leadership Forum (PDF). Cerrejón (2005). Retrieved on 2006-03-09.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Cerrejón Coal website. Contains information on operations as well as the company's environmental and community projects.
- BHP Billiton - Cerrejon Coal Company. Information from one of the three shareholders in the mine.
- Mining-Technology.com. Cerrejón information at a mining industry website.
