Papayal Coal Mine

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Papayal Mine is a proposed coal mine near Papayal in the Barrancas region, which is part of Colombia's La Guajira department.

Location

The map below shows the approximate location of the Papayal mine, near Papayal, Barrancas, Departamento de La Guajira, Colombia.

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Background

The Papayal coal mine was initially proposed by MPX Colombia, a subsidiary of MPX Energia SA, which in turn was a subsidiary of the diversified EBX Group.[1][2] MPX Colombia stated that the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) and the Engineering and Operating Plan were being prepared "and are expected to be filed by" quarter one of 2011.[2] The initial business plan called for 3 open-cast mines, Papayal, Cañaverales, and San Benito as well as an underground mine in San Juan. A third-party surveyor identified 144 million tons of reserves and resources with potential for open-cast mining in the proposed areas.[1]

However, financial downturns of former owner and Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista created problems for the project.[3] In Sept. 2016 the Turkish company Yıldırım Group purchased the CCX coal mine project from the Brazilian EBX group, and rebranded it under the new company name "Best Coal Company" (BCC).[4]

According to Yildirim's 2016 annual report, BCC drilled a total of 114,000 meters between Papayal, Cañaverales and San Juan in 2016 for "mineral research, exploration, and geotechnical studies."[4] Analysts said in 2018 that they expected Yildirim to bring the mine "online' in 2021.[5]

In its 2019 annual report, Yildirim A.S. stated that the company had begun EIA preparations for the Papayal project and expected to fulfill all requirements to obtain an operational license in 2020. Yildirim has noted that among the company's Colombian holdings, the Papayal mine "contains the highest quality coal," with an estimated calorific value ranging from 6,441 to 6,700 kcal/kg.[6][7][8]

Questions of transparency

An October 2022 report on BCC's Colombian mine projects pointed out that Best Coal Company has provided virtually no recent public information regarding the Papayal and San Juan mines, focusing almost exclusively on the smaller Cañaverales mine and thereby raising the question of whether BCC is intentionally obfuscating the broader long-term impacts of its proposed Colombian operations.[9] Questions of transparency have also been raised by the fact that parent company Yildirim's 2021 annual report included no information about BCC's Colombian mine projects[10], in contrast to the 2020 annual report, which included a detailed two-page spread about the Cañaverales, Papayal and San Juan mines.[11]

Project Details

  • Owner: The Best Coal Company[4]
  • Parent company: Yıldırım Group[4]
  • Location: Papayal, Barrancas, Departamento de La Guajira, Colombia
  • GPS coordinates: 10.99646, -72.7765
  • Mine status: proposed
  • Start year: to be determined
  • Mineable reserves: 15.6 million tons[7][8][12]
  • Coal type:
  • Mine size:
  • Mine type: Surface[6][13]
  • Production: 1.3 million tons per annum (estimated)[6][13]
  • Additional proposed production:
  • Equipment:
  • Number of employees:

Articles and resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 MPX ENERGIA S.A. MPX Releases MPX Colombia's Business Plan With 1.74 Billion in Potential Coal Resources and a 20 Mty Integrated Mining System globenewswire.com, March 6, 2010
  2. 2.0 2.1 MPX "MPX Portfolio", MPX website, accessed February 2011.
  3. Samantha Pearson Eike Batista sells Colombia mining assets Financial Times, Oct. 30, 2013
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Yildirim Group of Companies 2017 Goals and Expectations 2016 Annual Report, accessed Nov. 4, 2019
  5. Wood Mackenzie Papayal coal mine Asset Report summary, August 30, 2018
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Mining Projects" (PDF). Best Coal Company. March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Annual Report 2020 (pp 52-53)" (PDF). Yildirim Group of Companies. January 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. 8.0 8.1 "2019 Annual Report" (PDF). Yildirim Group of Companies. January 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. Giraldo Salazar, Juan Federico (July 12, 2022). "9. Disputas territoriales a partir de la proyección de minería de carbón en Cañaverales, La Guajira (p 337)". Revista Controversia (219).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. "2021 Annual Report" (PDF). Yildirim Group of Companies. 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. "Annual Report 2020 (pp 52-53)" (PDF). Yildirim Group of Companies. January 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. Sabrina Lorenzi and Patricio Abusleme Brazilian CCX negotiates sale of coal mines in Colombia for 75 mln dlrs Reuters, Sept 16, 2013
  13. 13.0 13.1 Enrique Saez Translation: The sale of CCX assets in Colombia does not prosper, Original: No prospera la venta de activos de CCX en Colombia minería pan-americana, Oct 6, 2014

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External resources

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