Peabody Energy has announced that the Mongolian Government has placed the company in the top tier of the short list of companies that pre-qualify to invest and cooperate in development of the Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit.
"We are pleased that the Government of Mongolia has recognised the world-class coal mining and marketing expertise of Peabody and look forward to potentially working with the Government of Mongolia to advance a partnership and project that will unlock the full benefits of Mongolia's vast resources to benefit the people of Mongolia," said Gregory H. Boyce, Peabody Energy chairman and CEO.
Peabody Energy has earned a dozen awards in the past year for land restoration and environmental excellence, including two for Mongolia's first coal mine restoration project.
Peabody Energy believes the world is in the early stages of a long-term supercycle for coal driven by increasing energy use in China, India and other emerging markets, global growth in steel consumption and a lack of alternative supplies with the cost and scale required.
Peabody Energy has signed two agreements to develop clean coal in China. The first will see the development of a 2000 MW supercritical power plant substitute natural gas facility; the second, the development of a green coal energy campus including a 1200 MW power plant that will capture CO2 and convert it into green building materials.
India’s Adani Group will help to build a coal export railway in Indonesia’s Southern Sumatra Province in another example of the country’s investment in natural resources abroad. Meanwhile, the Mongolian Government has rejected a direct rail link to China from the massive Tavan Tolgoi resource, citing the possible effect such a link would have on its sovereignty.