Saturday, November 27, 2010

San Miguel pursuing coal exploration, mines in Indonesia

Manila Standard Today
by Alena Mae S. Flores
Diversifying San Miguel Corp. will continue to pursue coal projects in Indonesia, company president and chief executive Ramon Ang told reporters.
“We’re looking at either acquisitions or joint venture for Indonesian coal mines,” Ang said when asked if the company had plans to acquire more coal exploration assets.
San Miguel owns 100 percent of three local mining firms whose coal mines in Mindanao are capable of delivering 1,200 megawatts of electricity in the region.
The company wants to build coal power plants to secure the country’s long-term power requirements.
San Miguel is interested in coal projects after winning a bid to manage the output of the 1,200-MW Sual coal-fired power plant in Pangasinan.
San Miguel’s energy unit San Miguel Energy said in March that it acquired 100 percent of the outstanding capital of Daguma Agro Minerals Inc.
Daguma Agro owns a coal mine in South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat, an area known for its rich coal deposits.
San Miguel also bought Bonanza Energy Resources Inc., which operates the nearby coal concession in the Daguma area.
It also acquired Sultan Energy Philippines Corp. from the group led by businessman Frederick Lu. Sultan’s coal mine is located beside the coal concession areas owned by Daguma Agro and Bonanza Energy.
“We’re in the process of consolidating all the coal mines in the area so that we will be able to know exact deposit of these coal deposits. Once we know the volume, we can start with the mine mouth [power plant],” Ang said earlier.

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