Overview -
The mine is located in La Guajira state of north-eastern Colombia and it is considered to be the world's largest export open pit coal mining operation.
Spaniards, English pirates, Germans and French landed on the peninsula and searched for pearls, gold and loot but were defeated by belligerent indigenous inhabitants who kept their territory out of their reach.
The humongous Cerrejon coal deposit was discovered in 1940s by Victor Oppenheim, a renowned geologist, engineer, anthropologist and explorer.
Coal mining was started in 1980s by the state owned Carbones de Colombia S.A. and Intercor, an ExxonMobil subsidiary. Subsequently, Anglo American, BHP Billiton and XStrata acquired and merged their interests in a local company named Carbones del Cerrejon, which is the mine's operator. By acquiring the adjacent Cerrejon Norte mine the operation became the largest coal mining operation in Colombia and Latin America.
Multiple open pits exploit five different multi-seam deposits that cover an area of 69,000 hectares. It is a truck and shovel operation with the high-grade thermal coal hauled to the preparation plant for crushing and blending prior of being loaded on trains and transported to the port of Puerto Bolivar on a 150 km company owned railroad.
In 2007, the mine produced over 31 million tones coal. A 40 million tonnes per year feasibility study was to be completed during the third quarter of 2008. Mine life extends beyond 2034.
The modern operation employs cutting-edge technology and equipment and provides for 10,400 jobs and royalty payments that have totaled US$870 million.
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