Proyecto San Luis by San Luis Coal S.A.

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Proyecto San Luis by San Luis Coal S.A. (Mina San Luis) is a shelved coal mine in El Carmen de Chucurí, Santander, Colombia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
San Luis Coal Mine	El Carmen de Chucurí, Santander, Colombia	6.69674, -73.516186 (approximate)

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

Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Project Type	Opening Year	Closing Year
Shelved	–	New	–	–

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
0.6	–	–	Underground	–	–	494.0*	254.0*

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
–	–	102.0	–	Bituminous	Thermal & Met	–

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Note: To access more comprehensive data on energy ownership, please visit the Global Energy Ownership Tracker.

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
–	–	Colombia

Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)

Note: The asterisk (*) indicates that the value is an estimated figure based on various factors, including the company's forecasted or reported monthly or quarterly production data, etc.

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
ROM	–	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9*	–	–

Note: The above sections were automatically generated and are based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker May 2026 release.

Ownership Tree

This ownership tree is part of the Global Energy Ownership Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

Background

The San Luis Coal Mine (Mina San Luis) is a coal mine located in the municipality of El Carmen de Chucurí, Santander department, Colombia. The mine is owned by Centromin S.A.S. and operated by Cymcol Ingeniería S.A.S., with Carbonera San Luis S.A.S. and Mincar S.A.S. serving as co-investors. A separate proposed expansion project (Proyecto San Luis) on the same coalfield was developed by San Luis Coal S.A. under a concession contract issued in 2006.

Mining Titles

As of March 2026, the following mining titles were associated with the San Luis coalfield in El Carmen de Chucurí:

• 092-91 — Active, Virtud de Aporte Contract, held by Centromin S.A.S. (NIT 800133444), application submitted February 6, 1990, issued April 13, 1992
• 065-92 — Active, Virtud de Aporte Contract, held by Centromin S.A.S., application submitted January 16, 1990, issued November 9, 1992
• FEC-131 — Terminated, Concession Contract (Decree 2655), held by Centromin S.A.S., issued September 1, 2005
• HGI-08077 — Active, Concession Contract (Law 685), held by San Luis Coal S.A. (NIT 900187385), application submitted July 18, 2006, issued September 29, 2006

San Luis Coal Mine

Geography, Resources and Parameters

The deposit is sedimentary, containing both thermal and coking coal. Mineral reserves estimated under the JORC standard stood at 40.0 Mt Proven and 38.0 Mt Probable. Mineral resources under the same standard were 58.7 Mt Measured and 55.6 Mt Indicated.

The mine used both open-pit and underground mining methods and was classified as a brownfield expansion and replacement project. Estimated annual production was of 500,000 tonnes and a mine life of 14 years. Construction began in 2004 and operations commenced in 2005. Total planned investment was US$30 million, of which US$18 million had been executed as of 2021.

History and Operations

Centromin S.A.S. was authorized by Ingeominas through Resolution No. 00000847 of September 5, 2005 to exploit coal at the San Luis mine. Environmental licenses for the operating titles were approved by CAS: title 092-91 under Resolution No. 00000847 of September 5, 2005; title 065-92 under Resolution No. 01002 of October 1, 2005; and title 029-91 under Resolution DGL No. 01001 of October 14, 2005. Work and operations plans (PTO) for all three titles were approved by the ANM in December 2015. As of August 2021, the project was reported as being in active exploitation.

In October 2014, CAS imposed a preventive suspension on Centromin's operations for non-compliance with 78 activities stipulated in its environmental management plan. After the company addressed the deficiencies, operations were permitted to resume.

Recent Operational Status

According to financial data reported by Centromin S.A.S., the company employed 50 people as of 2024. Net sales revenue fell by 45.42% in 2023, while total assets contracted by 35.67% over the same period, suggesting a significant reduction in operational activity.

This indicates that the mine has significantly reduced its production and makes the "operating" status uncertain.

San Luis Coal S.A. Proposed Expansion

A separate expansion project on the San Luis coalfield was proposed by San Luis Coal S.A. under concession contract HGI-08077. The expansion proposed underground-only mining, classified as a reaprovechamiento greenfield project, with projected annual production of 628,848 tonnes and a mine life of 15 years. Total planned investment was US$12 million, of which US$6 million had been executed as of 2021. Construction and operations start dates had not been established.

The deposit on the expansion area is sedimentary, containing both thermal and coking coals classified as High Volatile Bituminous. Mineral resources estimated under the ECRR standard stood at 32.4 Mt Measured and 70 Mt Indicated. Mineral reserves remained under study as of August 2021, with a resource update in progress under filing No. 20201000631462 of August 3, 2020. The Work and Operations Plan (PTO) was approved under Auto No. GTRB-193 of May 20, 2020. The environmental license application was filed with CAS under expedient CAS 0039-2009 and remained under review as of August 2021.

As of January 2023, San Luis Coal S.A. retained an active mining title but had not obtained a valid environmental license to operate. As of March 2026, no public information indicated the expansion had advanced beyond the detailed engineering stage, and it was considered shelved.

Coal Mine Boundaries and Methane Sources

Global Energy Monitor researchers have identified coal mine boundary/boundaries and potential sources of coal mine methane (CMM) for this mine. These research results can be used to drive CMM attribution and mitigation efforts, particularly when combined with remotely sensed methane plume locations and mine ownership data. Explore the results with the embedded map at the top of this page by clicking on the mine boundary polygon or the CMM placemarkers to reveal more details. A detailed description of this research can be found in Coal Mine Boundaries and Methane Sources. This data is also available as a downloadable companion dataset to the Global Coal Mine Tracker and the Global Methane Emitters Tracker.

Table SMP1: Coal mine boundaries and methane sources data

ID	Mine feature category	Mine feature subcategory	Description	Coordinates precision	Data source date
M3844.B1	mine boundary	underground and surface	San Luis coal mine boundary	extracted	2022-08-29 00:00:00

Table SMP2: Coal mine boundaries and methane sources data (continued)

Coal mine boundaries and methane sources were last researched for this mine on Oct 02, 2025

ID

Notes

M3844.B1

The boundary was extracted from a Global Forest Watch (GFW) data set of mining titles in Colombia, which includes shapefiles and proprietary information for the mining title areas in "Columbia Mining Titles," last accessed: Oct. 2, 2025 https://web.archive.org/save/https://data.globalforestwatch.org/datasets/colombia-mining-titles/explore?location=11.275605%2C-86.829278%2C9.97. The GFW data set was opened in Google Earth Pro and the boundary polygons were first identified by location and ownership. Because the GFW data set did not include title numbers, the mining title boundaries were cross-referenced using CoMiMo's interactive map, using the data layer "Títulos mineros" ("mining titles") to confirm the location and boundary shapes of the four relevant mining titles: 092-91 (the original mining lease), FEC-131, 029-91, and 065-92. The mining titles were accessible by selecting the data layer "Títulos mineros" from the layers menu ("Capas") of the CoMiMo map, last accessed: Oct. 2, 2025 https://web.archive.org/save/https://comimo.sig-gis.com/. The original mining title number 092-91 was also confirmed in a 2025 report by Colombia's national mining agency, "Agencia Nacional de Minería", "AUTO PAR BUCARAMANGA No. 0300," June 3, 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20250725172709/https://www.anm.gov.co/sites/default/files/DocumentosAnm/AUTO-PARB-0300-EXP-092-91-2025.pdf. The boundary is the perimeter of the licensed mining boundaries, including the original contracted mining boundary (No. 092-91) and the expansion mining boundaries (065-92, 029-91 and FEC-131). The area of the mine boundary is approximately 49 square km.

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