“The development of Ulan West will add another low-cost, efficient longwall operation to Xstrata Coal’s portfolio, leveraging a known resource base at Ulan to increase our production volumes by at least 7 million mtpy to satisfy growing demand for export quality thermal coal in Asia,” said Peter Freyberg, chief executive, Xstrata Coal. Subject to certain approvals, construction of the mine is expected to commence in late 2010, with the first longwall coal to be extracted in 2014.

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