Colombia Enlarges Coal Production, Supported by CCX Developments

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Researched by Industrial Info Research Latin America (Córdoba, Argentina)--CCX Colombian Coal, which is part of Brazilian group EBX, will begin the development of an integrated mining project (IMP) next June. It expects to eventually reach high-quality thermal coal production of 35 million tons.

CCX owns mine properties in the La Guajira and El Cesar departments, where 82.5% of Colombian coal is produced. Colombia is considered the 10th-largest world coal producer, reaching 74 million tons per year of production. This represents 88% of the country's mining industry, followed by nickel and gold.

The development of the IMP requires an investment of $5.5 billion to produce an average of 20.3 million tons for 33 years. CCX will develop two open pit mines (Cañaveral and Papayal), with an expected investment of $450 million each, and annual capacities of 5 million tons each. It is projected that the San Juan mine, which is estimated to have more than 5 billion tons of high-quality coal, will produce up to 30 million tons a year.

As part of this project, CCX ensures the logistics solutions for coal transportation, which involve a 150-kilometer railroad to carry minerals from the underground mine to a deepwater port with direct loading, which is estimated to be constructed in 2014. The infrastructure development is necessary to start the large-scale mining production; the beginning of the San Juan mining operation is expected in early 2017. The company will follow with feasibility mining studies and corresponding permitting licenses during the year, so that deposit activities will kick off by the end of 2013.

CCX Company belongs to EBX, and was created to manage and explore Colombian coal resources, granting the mineral supply to all other companies in the group.

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