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Coal
> Colombia
During the late 1980's, Drummond Ltd. acquired the mining rights to the La Loma
coal, located in northern Colombia. Development commenced in the early 1990’s.
The characteristics of La Loma coal compare favorably with those of other internationally
marketed steam coals. La Loma coal is one of the lowest sulfur and ash coal
currently exported from Colombia.
The steam coal production in Colombia, marketed under the trade name Aire Amigo,
meets worldwide sulfur regulations. Aire Amigo is also very low in NOx emissions,
which is highly desirable to utility plants required to lower these emissions.
In addition, Aire Amigo is marketed by Drummond affiliates internationally to 13
countries.
The Drummond Ltd. Colombian operation includes Mina Pribbenow, an open-pit coal
mine located in the Cesar Coal Basin near La Loma, Puerto Drummond, a deep-water
ocean port on the Caribbean Sea near Santa Marta, and coal transportation and handling
facilities. Drummond Ltd. transports the coal from the mine 120 miles by
railcar on the renovated portion of the Colombian National Railroad System and National
Highway directly to Puerto Drummond, the deep-water ocean port. This port
has the capability to load all sizes of vessels from handy-size up to the largest
capesize.
Heavy investment in production infrastructure over the last few years has allowed
Drummond Ltd. to grow shipments of Colombian coal from 1 million tons in 1995 to
22.9 million tons in 2007. Enabling this growth has been the innovative use of a
conveyance system and apron feeders to move coal and overburden at our Colombian
mine.
Through proper management of the coal loading process, Drummond Ltd. has been able
to consistently produce a high quality product to world utility markets. In 2007,
247 vessels were loaded via the port facilities.
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