Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Coal Country Notes

Brazil has considerable reserves of subbituminous coal, mostly located in the southern states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná. For the present Survey, the Brazilian WEC Member Committee has reported a virtually unchanged level for the proved amount in place, at just over 17 billion tonnes, of which almost 42% is categorised as proved recoverable reserves. The maximum depth of the deposits is 870 m, whilst the minimum seam thickness is 0.5 m. There is estimated to be some 15.3 billion tonnes of additional coal in place, of which 50% is considered to be recoverable.

With respect to the stated level of proved recoverable reserves, it is estimated that 21% could be exploited through surface mining, and that 7% is considered to be of coking quality. In 2005, 65% of Brazilian coal production was obtained by surface mining.

Almost all of Brazil's current coal output is classified as steam coal, of which more than 85% is used as power-station fuel and the remainder in industrial plants. Virtually all of Brazil's metallurgical coal is imported: about 70% is used as input for coke production.