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.