AHMSA Started Coal Production at New Mine

The leading steel-producing company Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA) started operations at Mina VIII, which will be its main metallurgical coal supplier for its coking plants in Monclova, Coahuila.

The development of the new coal mine’s infrastructure started around 2015, though the setup for the extraction equipment was completed in 1Q22. The project’s successful operational tests took place on March 25.

The mine’s longwall is located in Conchas Sur, at a large deposit of metallurgical coal. It is located at a depth of over 180m, has a 1,500m length and it has 167 platforms that support tunnels and protects personnel. Mina VIII was developed with the most advanced technology present in coal mining, according to AHMSA, featuring methane gas detection and control systems that ensure safer working conditions for underground staff. 

The operation will be carried out by the Mimosa Unit of Minera del Norte. It is expected that after a year of ramping up, it will produce over 1million tonnes of coal for the next. The company added that at the end of the production of the longwall, it will be substituted by similar parallel developments as AHMSA aims to assure the mine’s long-term continuity.

“The deposit that will operate as Mina VIII has reserves of over 100 million tonnes of high-quality metallurgical coil, with a expected life time of 30 years as main source for the production of AHMSA’s steel,” Arturo Arroyo, Operations Director, Minera del Norte, adeed. 

The company could be benefited from the 30-percent increase in the steel prices caused by the war in Ukraine, as Russia stopped its export of the resource. AHMSA was founded using both public and private capital. It started operations in 1944, with the aim to become the main supplier of steel in Mexico on the back of a supply shortage caused by World War II. In 1997, the company was acquired by Grupo Acerero del Norte. It is currently the biggest integrated steel company in the country, producing over 5 million tonnes of liquid steel a year.