During 2010, Ambre Energy inspected numerous potential coal terminal sites on the US west coast to progress its objective of becoming a pioneer in the export of thermal coal from the USA. A brownfield bulk materials terminal in Cowlitz County on the Columbia River in Longview, Washington State was ultimately chosen as the preferred option and Millennium Bulk Terminals-Longview LLC (MBTL) was established as the business entity for the purchase. The transaction was completed successfully on 11 January 2011 and MBTL acquired the assets of Chinook Ventures, Inc. (CVI), simultaneously entering into a long term ground lease over the site owned by Alcoa.

MBTL is a Limited Liability Company (LLC) with two shareholders. Ambre Energy owns 62 percent of the shares and Arch Coal, Inc., the second largest US thermal coal producer, owns the remaining 38 percent.

This underutilised 416 acre site is a multi-product bulk handling facility for commodities such as alumina and cement. It is accessible by rail infrastructure and serviced by both Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF). Deep water access up the Columbia River provides passage for ocean going vessels and the MBTL loading dock on the site’s 1.5 miles of river frontage has the potential to receive Panamax class ships.

For more than 60 years, this site zoned heavy industrial operated as an aluminium smelter, employing more than 1,400 people. The associated dock was used for importing alumina and materials needed in the smelting process. Around 2001, the facility was acquired by Alcoa and the smelter was shut down.

MBTL has begun a significant works program to maintain and upgrade the existing facilities, including multiple clean up projects related to decades of aluminium smelting and unpermitted actions taken by the site’s previous owner, CVI. The works will improve the safety and condition of the site to meet government requirements and community expectations.

MBTL currently employs 33 people plus dozens of local contractors, in addition to an experienced board and executive management team.

Engineering studies are currently underway to determine the scope and scale of a state-of-the-art coal handling facility, before the company enters into a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement process working towards local, state and federal approvals for an efficient and environmentally sound state-of-the-art coal export facility.

For more information, visit the MBTL website: www.millenniumlongview.com

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Following the acquisition of Millennium Bulk Terminals-Longview, Ambre Energy broadened its investigations into potential coal terminal sites across the west and south of the US. Limited opportunities directly on the west coast led the company to sites further inland up the Columbia River.

Drawing inspiration from successful coal barging operations in other parts of the US and worldwide, Ambre Energy began negotiations with the Port of Morrow, a site offering ample river frontage for barge loading infrastructure, excellent rail and highway access and rail links to Powder River Basin coal.

On 11 May 2011, the Port of Morrow Commission approved a one-year lease option with Ambre Energy subsidiary, Coyote Island Terminal, LLC, over approximately 24 acres of upland and approximately 15 acres of waterfront adjacent to the Port’s rail loop in order to construct, own and operate a marine terminal business known as the Morrow Pacific project.

The Port of Morrow is located near Boardman, Oregon, approximately 272 miles from the mouth of the Columbia River. The Union Pacific transcontinental rail line, also historically used by BNSF, provides the Port with a direct rail link to coal mines in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, including Ambre Energy’s mining operations at Decker and Black Butte.

When fully operational, covered barges will transport coal down the Columbia River to a selected transloading site, where the coal will be transferred from barges to ocean going vessels.

Ambre Energy expects to make significant progress on this development over the coming year with a goal to barge and ship first coal to Asia in 2013/14.

Read more at the Morrow Pacific Project website

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In addition to Ambre Energy’s west coast export options through Millennium Bulk Terminals-Longview and the Port of Morrow, it has increased its potential export capacity by securing a lease over land at the Port of Corpus Christi, Texas on the Gulf of Mexico.

The Port of Corpus Christi is the sixth largest port in the United States in total tonnage. Established in 1926, the port is equipped to receive Panamax vessels and handles a broad range of cargo including petroleum, ore, minerals, grain, chemicals and liquid bulk.

Ambre Energy subsidiary, AE Infrastructure, LLC, has a lease over a 14.5 acre tract in an area known as the Bulk Terminal in the Port’s Inner Harbor. The lease gives Ambre Energy the option for a 30 year tenure and the capability to develop a storage site to receive and ship coal through the Port’s joint facilities.

Three Class 1 railroads serve the Bulk Terminal, including BNSF, Kansas City Southern Lines (KCS) and UP. Of these railroads, BNSF and UP serve the coal fields under investigation to potentially supply coal for export.

Ambre is currently engaged in the feasibility engineering process to design a coal storage facility and to determine the throughput capacity. Discussions are underway with current tenants at the port to develop a joint facility. The port’s existing air emissions permits would allow immediate coal shipment up to 1.5 Mtpa and Ambre Energy is investigating options for increasing this tonnage, requiring new infrastructure and appropriate air permits for a larger scale operation.

The Port of Corpus Christi presents an ideal opportunity for Ambre Energy to access South American and European markets for thermal coal through its coal trading business.

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