The mining company Drummond Coal is preparing to invest several billion dollars in Colombia in coming months, to improve infrastructure and increase production in its mines.
The Alabama-based multinational currently operates two mines in Colombia in the northern department of Cesar. The first and the largest is called Pribbenow, or La Loma, and the second is El Descanso, which opened in 2009.
The president of Drummond in Colombia, Augusto Jimenez Mejia, told Caracol Radio that the investment would go towards the newly opened El Descanso mine and improving the railway infrastructure.
The company will increase its annual coal production by an estimated 10 million tons to 70 million tons this year, and Jimenez said the potential output of the El Descanso mine could be around four times that of La Loma.
Drummond is the country’s second-largest producer after Carbones del Cerrejon LLC, which is jointly owned by London-listed Xstrata PLC, Anglo American PLC and BHP Billiton PLC, each of which own 33.3%.
Last month company officials announced that they expect coal exports from Colombia to reach 24 million tons in 2010, up from the 23 million tons it shipped last year,