Hello Boof,

Thxs for this photo--will gravity drain the mine, or do they have to bring in some huge pumps to get this water out?

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/01/25/afx4573337.html
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Australia's Macarthur Coal joins string of coal miners hit by floods
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My question: will most of these mines be back up in a few days, or are we looking at a month or more?

If shutdown for sometime--China, and the other importers of Ozzie coal, might really be hurting soon for the coal to power their genplants and metal smelting industry.

Bob Shaw in Phx,Az Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?

Did a little googling to answer my own question on shutdown timeframes:

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23103775-664,00.html
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Most affected mines are transporting coal from stockpiles and port authorities at Gladstone Port, where most of the coal is shipped from, said there had not been any disruptions to operations as yet.

A spokesman for one of the worst affected mines, owned and operated by Ensham Resources, yesterday said flood waters had reached a peak on Wednesday night and had started to recede. But water was still flooding draglines, and repairs could take more than 12 months.

Ensham, which is partially owned by Japanese customers, declared force majeure on Monday.

"We're going to see some pretty prolonged disruptions here, I suspect," ANZ commodity strategist Mark Pervan said.

"Supply is going to be considerably tighter now. There are not a lot of alternative supplies so it's certainly going to be a factor in negotiations on annual contract prices."

Annual contract coal prices, which are tipped to jump almost 50 per cent in the Japanese business year starting April 1, might be pushed higher, Mr Pervan said.

Market consensus is for prices to rise to $US140-$US150 a tonne this year, up from $US98, yet they might now be closer to $US200.
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This price rise and potential shortage could really pressure Japan to restart it huge earthquake hit nuclear plant before everything is fully ready and people trained.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKSP34332420080116
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ANALYSIS-Japan nuclear power plant on long road to recovery
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So more info:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aR.9e4._pjvU&refer=h...
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No Chance

``With the distribution network operating at breaking point prior to the floods there is little or no chance of making up this lost tonnage,'' Merrill analysts led by Sydney-based Vicky Binns said in the report dated Jan. 24.
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Now I am wondering if China may be so short of coal soon that their Summer Olympics may be cancelled. That could certainly help awaken the world to Peak Everything!

Thanks for this info Bob, check the comment left below by Rembrandt.

Bob
I don't know the answer to that. Most mines have a sump (low point) which is constantly pumped out so when that is working the level should go down. If that's too slow they may bring in temporary pumps. This is bituminous (black coal) which can be left out in the sun to dry but in other parts of Australia lignite (brown) has to be air dried to increase the heating value.

TOD ANZ says some coal firms are declaring force majeure on contracts. Later I'm predicting kind of the opposite, when China wants more coal they'll get it global warming be damned.