MPX Seeking Coal Mines to Supply Power Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Brazilian mining company Mineracao e Energia (MPX) (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) hopes to acquire coal mines to fuel its own generation projects in Brazil and Chile. A company executive, Xisto Vieira, announced at a conference in Rio de Janeiro that MPX's plan is to build a more reliable supply chain acquiring coal mines, a shipping company and a coal trading unit, considering that Brazilian coal has lower energy efficiency. View related February 6, 2008, article - Maire Engineering Awarded Contract to Build Two Coal-Fired Plants in Brazil.

One of the two alternatives under consideration is to buy two coal mines in Australia from which coal would be mined to supply the 1.4-gigawatt (GW) Castilla generation project in Chile. Both mines reach a capacity of 450,000 tons per year.

On the other hand, to fuel its projects in Brazil, MPX has signed purchase options for rights to two mines in Colombia, Vieira said. The options are Cesar and La Guajira thermal coal producing regions.

MPX is developing nine power projects: seven thermal and two hydroelectric plants. The projects consist primarily of coal-powered thermoelectric plants to be situated in Brazil except for the Castilla thermal plant, which will be built at Punta Cachos, 80 kilometers from region III capital Copiapó. View related February 25, 2008 article - Brazil's MPX to Upgrade 1.4-Gigawatt Porto do Acu Thermal Project.

The main project is UTE Porto do Acu, a coal-powered thermoelectric plant to be built in Rio de Janeiro, with a planned generation capacity of 2.1 GW. According to MPX's investor relations officer, the nine plants will be ready byr 2018.

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