Cerrejón Coal Mine

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Cerrejón Coal Mine (Mina de carbón El Cerrejón) is an operating coal mine in Albania, Barrancas, Hatonuevo, La Guajira, Colombia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Cerrejón Coal Mine	Albania, Barrancas, Hatonuevo, La Guajira, Colombia	11.033968, -72.662926 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	1985	–

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.

Capacity (Mtpa)	Production (Mtpa)	Year of Production	Mine Type	Mining Method	Mine Size (km2)	Mine Depth (m)	Workforce Size
–	19.7	2022	Surface	Open Pit	699	60*	5373

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt)	Year of Total Reserves Recorded	Total Resources (Mt)	Coalfield	Coal Type	Coal Grade	Primary Consumer/ Destination
310	–	4162	Cesar-Ranchería Basin	Bituminous	Thermal	Puerto Bolivar coal export terminal

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Carbones del Cerrejon Ltd	Glencore	Switzerland

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the GEM April 2024 Global Coal Mine Tracker dataset.

Background

Cerrejón coal mine or minera del Cerrejón is a surface mine, owned by the Cerrejón Coal Company, a subsidiary of Glencore, near the village of Albania in the La Guajira department of Colombia.

Cerrejón is the largest coal mine in Latin America and the tenth biggest in the world.

In 2011, the mine underwent an expansion, called the Cerrejon P-40 Expansion. The Cerrejón mine comprises four zones: the North Zone, the Central Zone, the Patilla area and the South Zone.

BHP Billiton boasted on its website in 2011 that "Cerrejón's open-cut mines now represent one of the biggest earthmoving operations worldwide. Approximately one million tonnes of material are moved every day, 365 days per year. To achieve this, the operation runs one of the biggest fleets of shovels and trucks in the world. The company employs nearly 4,000 people, with approximately the same number engaged as contractors."

Ownership

As of August 2010, Xstrata Coal stated on its website that "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. In January 1999, an agreement with the Government of Colombia extended this phase an additional 25 years more, until 2034. In November 2000, the Colombian Government sold Carbocol S.A.’s (50%) participation in Cerrejón North Zone Association Contract, to a consortium made up of subsidiary companies of BHP Billiton plc, Anglo American plc and Glencore International AG. In February of 2002, the consortium acquired the remaining 50% from Intercor and merged Intercor with Carbones del Cerrejón S.A to create Carbones del Cerrejón LLC, Cerrejón."

In June 2021, Glencore announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire BHP and Anglo American's 33.3% stakes in the Cerrejón mine. In January 2022, Glencore completed the acquisition, assuming 100% control of the mine.

Production

Production at the Cerrejón mine grew steadily throughout the early 2000s, reaching its peak between 2012 and 2014; BHP Billiton stated in its 2014 Annual Report that total production in the 2013/2014 financial year (July 2013-June 2014) was 36.9 million tonnes.

In its 2020 annual report, BHP Billiton reported that production declined by 33% in 2019-2020 due to worker strikes and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. BHP Billiton's 2021 report indicated that production declined a further 30% in 2020-2021, in part due to a 91-day strike. However, by the end of 2021, the Cerrejón Coal Company reported that annual production had recovered, falling only about 10% shy of 2019 levels. In the company's 2022 Sustainability Report, Cerrejón described impaired operations due to increased rainfall during the La Niña year and challenges due to blockades in 2022 resulting in a decrease in coal production that year.

Table 1: Annual Production and Exports (January to December) - Cerrejón Mine

Mtpa = million tonnes per annum

Year	Total Production (Mtpa)	Total Exports (Mtpa)
2022	19.7	--
2021	23.4	23.36
2020	12.4	13.6
2019	25.8	26.3
2018	30.7	30.5
2017	31.9	31.7
2016	31.6	32.4
2015	33.2	33.4
2014	33.7	34.2
2013	32.6	33.5
2012	34.6	32.8
2011	32.3	32.03
2010	30.2	31.4
2009	30.6	30.3
2008	31.2	31.4
2007	29.6	29.8
2006	28.4	27.5
2005	26	25.5

Table 2: BHP Billiton Share of Production (July to June Fiscal Year)

Mtpa = million tonnes per annum

Fiscal Year	Total Production (Mtpa)	BHP Billiton Share of Production (Mtpa)
Jul 2020-Jun 2021	14.892	4.964
Jul 2019-Jun 2020	21.345	7.115
Jul 2018-Jun 2019	27.690	9.230
Jul 2017-Jun 2018	31.848	10.616
Jul 2016-Jun 2017	32.877	10.959
Jul 2015-Jun 2016	30.282	10.094
Jul 2014-Jun 2015	33.873	11.291
Jul 2013-Jun 2014	36.996	12.332
Jul 2012-Jun 2013	30.051	10.017
Jul 2011-Jun 2012	34.989	11.663
Jul 2010-Jun 2011	29.667	9.889
Jul 2009-Jun 2010	30.465	10.155

Exports

Coal from Cerrejón was originally marketed by CMC Coal Marketing Company, a company owned equally by BHP Billiton plc, Anglo American plc and Xstrata plc, headquartered in Dublin (Ireland) with a subsidiary office in Atlanta (USA).

In 2009, Cerrejón Coal Company stated that 56% of its production was exported to Europe, 17% to North America, 12% to Central and South America and 15% to "other destinations". As of February 2011 BHP Billiton's website confirmed that coal from Cerrejón was "exported largely to Europe, but also to the USA and South America." In its 2020 annual report, the Cerrejón Coal Company stated that 43% of the mine's exports were shipped to the Mediterranean region, 26% to the Americas, 15% to Asia, and 15% to other countries in non-Mediterranean Europe.

As of March 2015, the CMC Coal Marketing Company website indicated that the Cerrejón mine had exported over 500 million tonnes since 1985, while the Cerrejón Coal Company's 2016 annual report stated that coal exports from Cerrejón between 1985 and 2016 exceeded 650 million tonnes.

Reserves and reserve life

As of August 2010, Xstrata Coal stated that the mine employed 8,400 people and had a "reserve base in excess of 900 million tonnes."

As of August 2011, according to the mine's owners, Cerrejón had a resource base of about 5 billion tons, of which 2.1 billion tons had already been measured and indicated to be of export quality, making Cerrejón one of the largest coal deposits in the world.

As the global price of thermal coal has plummeted since 2011, the reserve life of the mine - even before the P40 expansion was fully commissioned - has been substantially truncated. In its 2011 annual report BHP Billiton stated that the mine had a reserve life of 23 years. In each of its three subsequent annual reports the company dropped the reserve life by two years. As of its 2014 annual report, BHP Billiton stated that the reserve life of the mine was 17 years. The company stated that the reason for the change between the 2013 and 2014 estimate was that "due to an increased nominated production rate from 40 Mtpa in FY2013 to 41.5 Mtpa in FY2014."

In its 2014 annual report, BHP Billiton stated that Cerrejón had proved marketable coal reserves of 610 million tonnes with the coal having an ash content of 9.4%, 33.8% volatile matter, 0.6% sulfur and an average energy content of 6180 kcal/kg.

BHP Billiton's 2019 annual report stated that Cerrejón's Colombian coal mining leases were set to expire progressively between 2028 and 2034, noting that no further production was scheduled at the Cerrejón mine beyond 2033.

Environmental & human rights impact

Environmentalists, activists and academics have documented a plethora of negative impacts of the Cerrejón mine on local communities and ecosystems, including forcible displacement of the Afro-descendant Tabaco people, water pollution, and damage to the traditional agricultural economy.

In July 2020, UNDARK Magazine reported "conflict with the local community, arising from both the pollution as well as infrastructure decisions that, the Wayuu say, have favored Cerrejón’s water needs over their own." UNDARK's report noted that a "comprehensive environmental study by the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz), a non-governmental organization based in Bogotá, for example, found high levels of heavy metal contamination in local soil and water samples, as well as high levels of airborne particulate matter around the area of Cerrejón." In response "Cerrejón officials called into question, among other things, the group’s testing methodologies and equipment."

In September 2020, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights and the Environment, David Boyd, called for the suspension of the mine “until it can be shown to be safe.”

In January 2021, it was announced that BHP, Glencore and Anglo American would face an investigation over the mine's environmental and human rights impacts. Government officials from Australia, Ireland, Switzerland and the UK will be responsible for the investigation of the impacts of the mine under the terms of the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises which requires member countries to investigate alleged breaches by companies based within their jurisdiction. In conjunction with the announcement, environmental and human rights activists in Australia, Switzerland, Ireland and the UK filed simultaneous complaints with the OECD calling for closure of the Cerrejón mine. The complaints cited Cerrejón's forced displacement of Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, along with high rates of air and water pollution, cancer and metal intoxication affecting communities in the vicinity of the mine.

In January 2022, the Swiss, Australian and UK National Central Points (NCPs) issued initial assessments confirming that the complaints deal with a credible issue and should progress.

Labor disputes and blockades

In May 2021 Cerrejón coal announced that it had suspended operations at the mine as the result of a railway blockade organized by former workers.

Activists hold a sign calling for the the Cerrejón company and Colombian government to respect their rights as ethnic communities. Source: Contagio Radio / Resumen Latinoamericano, September 2022.

In September 2022, the communities of Papayal, Manantialito, Barrancón, Vereda de Sierra Azul, Cocotazo, San Francisco, Tamaquito II, and other resettled communities organized to block the Cerrejón mine's southern operation, stating that the mining company had not complied with prior judgments and refused to work with the community on issues such as access to water, social investment, and jobs. As of September 6, peaceful roadblocks by indigenous activists had reduced Cerrejón's thermal coal production by 70%.

• Owner: Cerrejón Coal Company
• Parent company: Glencore International AG
• Location: Albania, Barrancas and Hatonuevo in La Guajira, Colombia
• GPS coordinates: 11.033968,-72.662926
• Mine status:Operating
• Start year: 1985
• Mineable reserves: 900 million tonnes with 190 mt proven and marketable and 120 mt probable and marketable
• Coal type: bituminous
• Mine size: 270 sq mi
• Mine type: Surface
• Production: 23.4 million tonnes (2021)
• Capacity: The mine has a capacity of 32 million tonnes
• Equipment: 493 pieces of equipment: 258 trucks with a load capacity of 190, 240, and 320 tonnes, 50 hydraulic shovels, and 185 pieces of auxiliary equipment.
• Number of employees: 8,400

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.