Announcement of IFC Joins U.S. and Colombian Firms to Establish New Fifty Million US Dollars Coal Mine in Colombia on September 6, 1983

D~@ International Finance Corp9ration . 1818 H Street, N.W. \')Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A..· FOR HEL~ASE: Tuesday S.eptember 6, 1983 CONTACT: IFC information Office Press Release No. 84/j (202) 676-039·· IFC JOINS U.S. AND COLOMBIAN FIRMS TO ESTABLISH NEW $50 MILLION COAL MINE IN COLOMBIA The International Finance Corporation (IFC) together with the Mining Investment Corporation Limite~ (MINCORP) of the United Kingdo1:11 and the Cementos del. Caribe/Argos group of Colombia signed today in London agreements under which financial and technical assistance will be provided to Carbones del Caribe for I• · the establishment of ac;:i $51. 6 million open cast coal mine 'fii Colombia. IFC is the affiliate of the World 'Bank which makes loans and equity investments within thf private sector. of developing countries throughout the world. MINCORP is the mining division of Burnett & Hallcmishire Holdings PLC with w:orldwide interests in mining, property and, oil., and an apn_µal turnover .of. 12250 million. Carbones del Caribe represents Colombia 1 s first major private sector coal project intended for export. When ful~y operational, the mine will produce 920,000 metric tons per year predomina11tiy for export. At full capacity the ;I .project will create 315 new jobs in a remote area of the country ind generate or ' :·1 save over $70 million in foreign exchange. The agreements signed today call r:;_) for an IFC loan of $10.56 million and -~, an equity investment of~an additional $1.46million. MINCORP intends to make an equity investment of $4.53 million repre11enting a .31% ownership :t.n the project t';, c.ompany. The principal sponsor of the company is the Cementos del Caribe S.A., of Colombia. Additional financial support is being provided by the U.S. EXIMBANK, and three well-known develo.pment finance corporations in Colombia.  ~] MINCORP, through i,ts subsidiary, Northern Strip Mtning Limited, is providing technical assistance to the project. In signing the agreements for IFC, the director of IFC for Latin America investments, Giovannni Vaccpelli, described the project as a "clear example of how international sources of finance and technical support can ,effectively come together with local entrepreneurs to support economic .~\ )/ deve1 opment. , /1 IFC.has been active in &olombia since 1959 and has invested more than $70 million, including participat~~ns, in 34 projects. Companies and financial ~\1~titutions from the United Kingdom. have '\ also been active with IFC in vartous projects throughout the worldi Sixty five U.S. firms have invested more than $400 million in 90 IFC projects in 1nore than 40 countries. (Any inquiries strictly relating of IFC's participation in this project should be directed to the IFC InformatJ.on Office, 1818 H St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433,uTelephone (202) 676-0394).