BHP?s Maruwai to commence hard coking coal production 2008

BHP Billiton's PT Maruwai Coal will commence hard coking coal production from its mine in the heart of Kalimantan island third quarter of 2008 with output of 1 million tons in the first stage of the mine development, according to company?s presentation on Thursday.

According to the presentation, the Maruwai open cut coal project is currently in a Feasibility Study phase which is aiming to bring online the Stage 1 mining of the Lampunut deposit by the second half 2008. The Feasibility Study for Stage 1 is proposed for completion by July 2007.

Stage 2 development could ramp up production to 2-5 MTPA, potentially for up to a 20-year period.

Coal mined will be transferred to a coal handling & preparation plant and transported by truck south to Tuhup on the banks of the Barito River. At Tuhup the coal will be blended into stockpiles and then sent via a crusher and conveyor for processing and loading onto barges.

The coal will then be barged down the Barito River to an intermediate stockpile and port area at Teluk Timbau where it will be reloaded onto larger barges and taken further south to a floating coal storage and transshipment facility offshore from the city of Banjarmasin.

The proposed Maruwai development will be a ?greenfield? development and, if successful, will be the first hard coking coal mine in Indonesia.

Aside from Maruwai project, BHP is also developing the Haju mine project through its subsidiary PT Lahai Coal.

The Haju project is currently in a feasibility study phase which is aiming to bring mining on line in the second half of 2007.

The feasibility study includes all mining, processing, infrastructure and utilities to enable the development of a 700,000 tons per annum open cut coal mine facility. The completion date for this study is currently early 2007.

Transportation of the coal will be in highway trucks to the barge port at Tuhup along upgraded logging roads, a distance of about 45 kilometers from the mine. An intermediate stockpiling and loading facility will be built on the Barito River at Teluk Timbau, further south of Tuhup.

From the intermediate port the coal will be loaded by conveyor onto larger 10,000-ton barges and then transported 224 kilometers further downstream to a transshipment facility, off shore from the city of Banjarmasin, where it will be loaded by barge crane onto export vessels.

Both projects are part of BHP Billiton's ambitious plan to produce some 17.5 MTPA of hard coking coal by 2013 from its several concessions in Central and East Kalimantan.(godang)