Tag Archives: Blue Creek

BEUMER Group to design and supply overland conveyor for Warrior Met Coal’s Blue Creek mine

Bulk handling, Coal technology, Mining equipment, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , , ,

BEUMER Group has been selected by Warrior Met Coal to support the expansion of Blue Creek mine, a new state-of-the-art underground longwall mine producing steelmaking coal.

The extracted coal is to be processed on surface in a coal preparation plant before being moved over 14 km to a train loadout station.

The BEUMER Group recently secured the order from Warrior to design and supply a single-flight curved overland conveyor for this 1,500 short ton per hour transport system.

Daniel Schmillenkamp, CEO of BEUMER Group Canada, said: “In cooperation with Warrior, we addressed the project-specific challenges. The design and implementation are a testament to our commitment to innovation and customer-centric solutions.”

The project presented some challenges due to the difficult and hilly terrain of the proposed transport corridor, BEUMER says. To find the most efficient solution, Warrior explored various transportation methods, including rail, troughed and pipe conveyor systems. Over the past 12 months, BEUMER Group worked closely with Warrior to identify the most economical and technically feasible transport method and optimal route, resulting in a single conventionally troughed conveyor with 18 horizontal curves.

Philip Saunders, Senior VP Engineering at Warrior, said: “BEUMER’s holistic approach and our very close working relationship allowed us to expedite the design and procurement phase to move toward the completion of this time-sensitive project at a pace rarely seen in the coal or mining industries.”

BEUMER is responsible for engineering and procurement of all structural and mechanical components and multiple E-Houses with VFDs, MCCs and PLC control systems. The conveyor system will use nine load-sharing drives to limit the overall belt tension.

BEUMER’s Director of Sales, Peter Sehl, said this project uses innovative and proprietary conveyor engineering and design tools to support the fast construction schedule. “With over 5,000 tons of steel for ground modules and elevated sections, 47% of the conveyor flight will be elevated to avoid natural features and minimise earthworks,” he said.

The overland conveyor is expected to be operational by the end of 2025.

With the addition of Blue Creek, Warrior expects to increase its annual High Vol A production by 4.8 million short tons; enhance its already advantageous position on the global cost curve; drive its cash costs further into the first quartile globally; improve its profitability and cash flow generation; and cement its position as a leading pure play steelmaking coal producer, the coal producer says.

RMI Pressure Systems selecting winning pump formula at US longwall coal mines

Coal technology, Mining equipment, , , , , , , , , , ,

RMI Pressure Systems says it is making a name for itself in the US mining market, having supplied reciprocal pump solutions to leading players in the sector.

This includes pump systems for underground longwall mines and for industrial press applications in the aluminium segment, according to Gary Punton, RMI’s General Manager in the US.

At Warrior Met Coal’s Blue Creek longwall mine near Brookwood, Alabama, RMI is providing its hydraulic power solution for the actuation of self-advancing roof supports. “The design is based on our popular five-plunger Quinmax S500 high-pressure reciprocating pump (pictured),” Punton said. “The manufacture, assembly and testing of two pump systems is planned for completion by end of the fourth (December) quarter of 2024.”

At another of Warrior Met Coal’s operations – Mine 7 East – RMI is supplying new pumps as part of an overhaul and upgrade program for the miner’s ageing S500 units, which were first installed as early as 2011.

“We will be installing new S500 pumps on the pump systems serving the mine’s longwall equipment,” he said. “This is a testament to the longevity and reliability of our equipment, which is well referenced in the mining sector.”

In another recent contract, this time in the industrial space, RMI will be providing an additional S500 pump assembly for a press system at Arconic’s Lafayette facility in Louisiana.

“We assembled and tested this S500 pump system in our Jasper facility in Alabama, and shipped it to the customer early this year for commissioning during the third quarter of the year,” Punton said.

He highlighted that the Quinmax S500 pump at Arconic – fitted with 650 hp (485 kW) motors – provides a safe and reliable supply of high-pressure water-based fluids for both mining and heavy industrial applications. With its compact horizontal five-plunger design, this innovative pump facilitates increased crank speeds and loading.

“We use finite element analysis to validate our pumps’ performance and reliability, as well as computational fluid dynamics to maximise the efficiency of wetted components,” he explained.

Warrior Met Coal to relaunch Blue Creek longwall mine

Coal technology, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining finance, Steel and iron ore, , ,

Warrior Met Coal says it is relaunching the development of its Blue Creek reserves into a new, world-class longwall mine located in Alabama, USA, near its existing mines.

Once completed, this investment will reinforce Warrior’s position as the premier US pure-play producer of premium metallurgical coal products that are sought by customers throughout the global steel industry, it said.

Previously, the company had delayed the development of the Blue Creek reserves due to the uncertainty of COVID-19, as well as market conditions and the labour strike. As market conditions have significantly improved and the company’s cash generation and cash on hand have significantly increased, the company has decided now to move forward with the development, it said.

Since the initial announcement, inflation in steel and other commodity prices, including labour costs, have increased the total capital spending requirements of the project. However, during a refresh of the project, the company has identified potential production increases of approximately 10% and anticipates being able to accelerate the start of longwall production by approximately 15 months based on design modifications and projected stronger available liquidity to fund the project. Based on an assumed met coal price of $150/t, the projected net present value (NPV) is approximately $1 billion over the life of the mine with a projected after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of nearly 30% and an expected payback of approximately two years from initial longwall production, the company said.

“We are extremely excited about this organic growth project, which will transform Warrior and allow us to build upon our proven track record of creating value for stockholders,” Walt Scheller, CEO of Warrior, said. “Blue Creek is truly a world-class asset and our commitment to this new initiative demonstrates our continued, highly focused business strategy as a premium pure-play met coal producer.”

The Blue Creek development will be a single longwall mine and is expected to have the capacity to produce an average of 4.8 million short tons per annum (mstpa) of premium High-Vol A met coal over the first 10 years of production. It is one of the last remaining large-scale, untapped premium High Vol A met coal reserves in the US, according to the company.

Once fully developed, the company expects Blue Creek to increase Warrior’s annual production capacity by 60% and expand its product portfolio to its global customers, by offering three premium hard coking coals that are expected to achieve the highest premium met coal prices in the seaborne markets. Warrior controls approximately 70 million short tons of recoverable reserves and 49 million short tons of resources at Blue Creek, which totals to over 119 million short tons. Warrior has the ability to acquire adjacent reserves that would increase total recoverable reserves at the mine, it says. The inclusion of all coal reserves, resources and adjacent properties would extend the life of mine reserves to approximately 170 million short tons. Under this expanded mine plan, Blue Creek is expected to have a mine life of approximately 50 years assuming a single longwall operation.

The company’s third-party reserve report indicates that Blue Creek would produce a premium High Vol A metallurgical coal that will differentiate itself from the industry benchmark with lower sulphur and higher coke strength after reaction (CSR). High Vol A has historically priced at a slight discount to the Australian Premium and US Low Vol coals, and that trend has continued over the last two years, it explained. Warrior expects High Vol A coals will continue to become increasingly scarce as a result of Central Appalachian producers mining thinner and deeper reserves, which is expected to continue to support this pricing level.

Likewise, Warrior expects premium hard coking coals to become even more highly valued by customers due to their blending characteristics and ability to improve coke oven efficiency. Warrior believes this creates an opportunity for Blue Creek to take advantage of favourable pricing dynamics driven by the declining supply of premium High Vol A coals.

Blue Creek’s estimated production cost per short ton is expected to be in the first quartile of the US and global seaborne hard coking coal cost curve and to be approximately 30-35% lower than Warrior’s existing mines today.

Warrior expects to invest approximately $650 to $700 million over the next five years to develop Blue Creek with expected spending in 2022 of approximately $45 million to begin the project. Based on the current schedule, Warrior expects the first development tonnes from continuous miner units to occur in the September quarter of 2024 with the longwall scheduled to start up in the June quarter of 2026.

Warrior’s strong cash flow generation and current available liquidity, as well as the ability to finance $120 – $130 million of capital expenditures through equipment leases, allows the company to be opportunistic as it evaluates funding options for Blue Creek with the goal of maintaining an efficient and low-cost capital structure.