Cerrejón
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| Colombian coal mine | |
| Industry | Open-pit coal mining |
| Headquarters | Albania, La Guajira, Colombia |
| Products | Coal |
| Owner | Republic of Colombia |
Cerrejón is a field or coal mine, located in the basin of the Ranchería River, southeast of La Guajira Department in Colombia, east of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and west of the Perijá Mountains, in line with the border with Venezuela. It is an open-pit mine, and is one of the largest mines of that type. The coal mine was divided into three main corresponding areas Cerrejón North Zone, Cerrejón Central Zone and Cerrejón South Zone. The mine extends over 690 square kilometres (270 sq mi).
There is controversy about the discoverer of Cerrejon mine, and some names are shuffled: the American civil engineer John May, hired by the national government, which conducted the examination in 1864; the writer Jorge Isaacs; and Mr. Juan Gomez Osío, native of La Guajira. In the 19th century small scale mining began. [1]
A major part of the history of the Cerrejón mine should be mentioned: the "defunct" company Intercor (International Colombia Resources Corporation) was in it's time called "The Cerrejón Zona Norte Coal Project".
In December 1976, a partnership contract was signed between Carbocol S. A. (Carbones de Colombia S. A.), a state-owned firm, and Intercor (International Colombia Resources Corporation Intercor), at the time Exxon, today ExxonMobil subsidiary, to develop the north zone of Cerrejón. This contract considered three stages: exploration (1977–1980), construction (1981–1986), and production (1986–2009). In January 1999, the Colombian government extended the concession for a further 25 years, to 2034.
In this zone, there are two areas under concession:
In 2001, after a public tender, this area was ceded to a consortium comprising Carbones del Cerrejón S. A. and Cerrejón Zona Norte S.A., which is currently concessioned to subsidiaries of BHP Billiton, Anglo American, and Xstrata.
In 1997, after a tender process, the exploration and mining contract for this zone was awarded to the consortium now comprising subsidiaries of BHP Billiton, Anglo American, and Xstrata. Currently, the Cerrejón South Zone is under exploration.
The Cerrejón is a thermal coal mine, currently operated by the company “Carbones del Cerrejón Limited, Cerrejón”, currently extracting and exploiting coal in the coal mine Cerrejón. "Carbones del Cerrejón Limited, Cerrejón", producer and exporter operating in La Guajira department, Colombia. Its operations include an open-pit mine producing over 32 million tonnes of coal a year, a 150-km railway line, and Puerto Bolívar, a maritime shipping terminal servicing vessels of up to 180,000 tonnes. The added value of this mining operation lies in its integrated operation (mine-railway-port), which is unique in Colombia. The integration guarantees greater production efficiency and less environmental impact.
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