- Cerrejón
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Trucks loaded with coal at The Cerrejon.
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 Carbones del Cerrejón Ltd. The current Cerrejón company was created in 2002 as a joint venture of three international mining firms BHP Billiton, Anglo American PLC and Glencore International AG, each with a 33.33% shareholding; in 2006, Glencore's share was bought by Xstrata Plc.
The output of the mine in 2009 was 30.3 million tons. Cerrejón contributes close to half of Colombia's coal exports of 73.1 million tons, with Colombia ranked fourth among major coal exporting nations as of 2007.[1] Cerrejón gives its name to the, prehistoric, 46-foot-long snake (14 m), Titanoboa cerrejonensis, fossils of which have been found in the mining areas. [2]
Contents
History
North Zone
In December 1976, an Association Contract was signed between Carbocol S.A., a state owned Coal Company, and Intercor, an ExxonMobil affiliate, for the development of Cerrejón North Zone. This contract consists of three phases: Exploration (1977-1980), Construction (1981-1986) and Production (1986-2009). In January of 1999, an agreement with the Government of Colombia extended this phase an additional 25 years more, until 2034.
In November of 2000, the Colombian Government sold Carbocol S.A. (50%) participation in Cerrejón North Zone Association Contract, to a consortium, whose members were subsidiaries of BHP Billiton plc, Anglo American plc and Glencore International AG. Later on Glencore sold its participation to Xstrata plc.
In February of 2002, this consortium acquired from Intercor the other 50%, owned by ExxonMobil, thus becoming the sole owner of the Cerrejón north zone. In November of 2002, the merger between Intercor and Carbones del Cerrejón S.A was legalized and Intercor's name was changed today Carbones del Cerrejón Limited, Cerrejón.
Central Zone
This zone has two contracted areas::
Central Deposit (Comunidad de El Cerrejón) in production since 1981. After successive contracts with different companies (Domi Prodeco Auxini consortium, Prodeco, Carbones del Caribe and others), it was acquired by Glencore in 1995, thus creating Carbones del Cerrejón S.A. Then, in 1997, Anglo American joined the business and in 2000, BHP Billiton became the third associate.
Oreganal Deposit (State owned), initially contracted between Carbones del Caribe and Colombian state (today Minercol), then in 1995 with Oreganal S.A. who in turn assigned its participation to Carbones del Cerrejón.
Patilla Area
In 2001, through a public bid, this area was assigned to a consortium, whose members are today Carbones del Cerrejón Limited (former Intercor) and Cerrejón Zona Norte S.A., that also belong to subsidiary companies of BHP Billiton plc, Anglo American plc and Xstrata plc.
South Zone
Through a bid in 1997, an exploration and exploitation contract of this zone was assigned to a consortium integrated today by subsidiary companies of BHP Billiton plc, Anglo American plc and Xstrata plc. Currently, this zone is at exploration stage.
Production
Open cast mine at CerrejonThe 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 150 km 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge) railroad, connecting the mine to its coal-loading terminal at Puerto Bolívar on the Caribbean coast. There are two 128-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 at peaks of 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 about 5,300 workers, with a further 5,000 approximately 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 and house heating. 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.
Overburden removalSee also
- Puerto Bolivar Airport
- Titanoboa, worlds largest prehistoric snake found in Cerrejón mine.
References
- ^ "Coal Facts". World Coal Institute. 2005. http://www.worldcoal.org/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=188. Retrieved 2006-03-09.
- ^ Smith, Lewis (2009-02-05). "Giant Titanoboa snake ruled the earth after the dinosaurs". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article5662915.ece. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
External links
- Cerrejón Coal website. Contains information on operations as well as the company's environmental and community projects.
- [1]. Information from BHP Billiton on the mine.
Coordinates: 11°05′22″N 72°40′31″W / 11.08944°N 72.67528°W
Categories:- Coal mines in Colombia
- Surface mines in Colombia
- Xstrata
- Standard gauge railways in South America
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