Higher commodity prices are attracting more investment in Canada mines.

Canada's high-capacity coal mines that produce metallurgical coal, thermal coal and pulverized coal injection.  The growing demand for metallurgical coal has meant increased production mines in Canada and new mine openings.

In addition to Peace River Coal (formerly NEMI) and Western Canadian Coal's high quality, metallurgical coal mines, other mines are being developed to provide metallurgical (coking and PCI) and thermal coal to the international markets.
CN-served coal mines and export terminal facilities

Canada need equipment to transport coal

Canada provides safe, efficient and cost-effective transportation of coal from Canadian mines, in unit trains (90 cars or more), multiple car blocks or single-car shipments.
Canada has a fleet of rotary gondolas transport coal products from mine to port efficiently:

• Heavy-duty cars that are designed for unit trains
• Loading or unloading in minutes without being uncoupled
• Capacity of 107 metric tonnes

Canada opens last frontier

Quebec unveiled an $80-billion plan in May to open up its vast northern region -- one of the world's last unspoiled wilds, about twice the size of France -- to forestry and mining at the base of the Myrdalsjokull glacier in Iceland in April 2010. Dropping beneath low-lying clouds, a float plane circles a rocky landscape on the edge of the Arctic Circle grooved by the last ice age eight millennia ago and since then bathed by hundreds of rivers and lakes.

Quebec unveiled an $80-billion plan in May to open up its vast northern region -- one of the world's last unspoiled wilds, about twice the size of France -- to forestry and mining. the Quebec government promises up to 11 new mining projects will be launched in the next few years in the far north. picking up a rock sheered from a nearby ridge that could be hiding a major gold or copper find.

"Nunavik still remains substantially unexplored," says geologist and Azimut president Jean-Marc Lulin. "So there's an opportunity to make important discoveries here."
"It's going well," Aurizon geologist Olivier Grondin tells Lulin before boarding a helicopter to scout a potentially significant outcrop of gold, silver, copper and tungsten in a zone named the Augossan corridor. "We're very excited because there's a potential to discover a vast amount (of minerals) near the surface," explains Lulin. Only deposits on the surface can be extracted in this region at a profit, with prohibitive costs of building mine infrastructure to tap resources deep underground.
"Unless it's a major find, it's not worth it," Lulin says.
The new efforts come as the government is proposing to upgrade 10 north ports, 46 airstrips and extend railroads and roads by tens of thousands of kilometers (miles) to improve access to the region.
Currie Enterprises Today, occupies a 27,000-square-foot complex in East Anaheim, California. The company has grown in size and the product line has continued to expand. Currie Enterprises now has nearly 50 employees and boasts a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. The Curries design, build, modify, test, sell, and install rearend and drive-train products, all under one roof. Currie Enterprises has long been known for making the best rearends and components money can buy. We spare no expense in creating rearends for a multitude of applications. We stand behind each and every rearend that leaves our facility.  With the high demand for industrial vehicles for projects discussed in Canada, Currie Enterprises Industrial has supported many industrial, mining and commercial custom rear ends. 

American Axle Manufacturing, a former General Motors unit, Closing Detroit Complex

Published: June 30, 2011 4:50 PM  Modified: July 01, 2011

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. will close its Detroit manufacturing complex in February following a breakdown in labor talks with the UAW.
About 300 hourly and salaried workers will be affected by the closure, said Christopher Son, a spokesman for the Detroit-based supplier.
American Axle, a former General Motors unit, sought to obtain a competitive labor contract with the United Auto Workers that would have been much like a pact in place at its Three Rivers plant in southwest Michigan, Son said.
Axle wanted to reduce compensation to $30 an hour from $45 an hour, he said.
"It's a matter of being market competitive and achieving an appropriate cost structure," Son said. "This facility was lacking in that and this is the unfortunate outcome."
The manufacturing complex is next to the company's Detroit headquarters and supplies front and rear axle assemblies and steering linkages for light trucks. It suffered from shifting demand to more fuel-efficient cars, Son said.
The plant will officially close no earlier than Feb. 26, 2012, when a current UAW contract expires, the company said.
Cindy Estrada, UAW vice president, said in a statement that American Axle had been moving work to its Mexico plant with intent in closing the Detroit plant.
"UAW members found dramatic cost savings to make the Detroit plant competitive, and instead of assigning enough work to keep the facility open and profitable, AAM is running from Detroit," Estrada said."
UAW President Bob King called the plant closure, "another example of corporate greed gone amuck."
The complex once housed eight factories and as recently as 2007 employed about 2,200 workers. There are three plants in operation today.
American Axle Chairman Richard E. Dauch, a long-time champion of American manufacturing and the U.S. worker, has come under fire from union leaders in recent years for an increasingly hard-line negotiating stance.
A former head of manufacturing at Chrysler Corp. and Volkswagen of America, Dauch's reputation took a beating in 2008 when 3,650 UAW members staged a bitter strike at five American Axle plants. The strike halted or disrupted output at 30 factories of American Axle's dominant customer, GM.
The tough bargaining posture has coincided with a drive by American Axle to reduce its reliance on GM and target other customers, such as VW, Audi, Ford Motor Co. and Chery.
Like Delphi Automotive LLP, Visteon Corp. and other U.S.-based suppliers, American Axle has shifted manufacturing overseas to countries such as China, Poland and India to take advantage of lower wages and to be closer to customers.
The company's plant in Siloa, Mexico, for example, opened in 1998 with just 12 workers. It employs 2,700 hourly employees today and accounted for 28 percent of American Axle's global revenues of $2.3 billion last year.
About 40 percent of the rear-axle assemblies, propeller shafts, driveline systems and forging components produced at the Silao plant are supplied to vehicles assembled in Mexico.
In Mexico the average wage and benefit package for hourly auto assembly workers is $6.94, according to Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography.
UAW President Bob King estimates that union members at Detroit automakers and parts factories earn an average of about $35 an hour in combined wages and benefits.
American Axle has rebounded since losing $253 million and watching revenues plunge 29 percent to $1.5 billion in 2009.
The supplier, which avoided bankruptcy during the industry collapse of 2008 and 2009, more than doubled earnings in posting its sixth straight quarterly profit during the first quarter of 2011.
American Axle posted net income of $37.7 million, compared with a profit of $16.3 million a year earlier as the company attracted more non-GM business.
When GM and Chrysler Group filed for bankruptcy protection during the latest industry downturn, American Axle was forced to slash daily axle output from 14,000 to 8,000 and eventually down to 6,000 axles a day.
Payrolls dropped from 13,000 employees to 7,000, and plants in New York were idled or closed. The Detroit factory underwent a major consolidation.
Son said American Axle hasn't decided whether the Detroit complex will be sold or used for other purposes.
When Dauch and a group of investors acquired American Axle from GM in 1994, many of the bars, party stores and drug houses that once surrounded the Detroit complex slowly vanished.
American Axle offered to buy a half-dozen nearby bars and party stores — in one case, for $500,000 — to eliminate the impact of alcohol and drugs in the workplace, UAW officials and owners of homes and bars in the area said at the time.

Currie Enterprises Today

Dana Holding Corp Expaning into China and India

Dana increases stake in Dongfeng, Axles India

ABR Staff Writer  July 2011 Dana Holding has expanded its control in China and India by increasing stake in Dongfeng Dana Axle (DDAC) and by acquiring the commercial-vehicle axle business of Axles India (AIL).
The auto-parts maker has increased its stake to 50% in DDAC by purchasing additional 46% stake for $124m from Dongfeng Motor (DFL) and acquired AIL for $13m.
A sales-incentive agreement could increase the company's consideration in the venture by another $20m if it achieves certain profitability targets.
Dana president and CEO Roger Wood said the company is encouraged by the continued strong performance of the truck and bus markets in China, and of its partner Dongfeng, and look forward to the strengthened relationship.
"This is another important step in our ongoing drive to seek out opportunity in the Chinese market and expand globally," Wood said.
Dana has acquired the drive head manufacturing and final assembly operations of the commercial-vehicle axle business of AIL and also assumed responsibility for the marketing, sales, and engineering of these medium- and heavy-duty axles.

Currie Enterprises Today

Currie Enterprises: The iconic jeep just got a cool, new face-lift

WWW.CurrieEnterprises.com Blog staff presents: The iconic jeep just got a cool, new face-lift- Jeep Wrangler. 

EVERYONE RECOGNIZES THE JEEP WRANGLER. But despite its classic status, that doesn't mean there wasn't still room for a few improvements. With 2011's new design, the Wrangler has become less like a tractor and more like something you'd want to show off.

The biggest change for both the two-door and four-door models is inside. The steering wheel now has radio controls and automatic climate switches. There's also substantially more soundproofing, which quiets the cab significantly--something your lady will appreciate during long drives.



Outside, a new optional body-colored hardtop is sure to get you noticed. It makes the Wrangler look more finished and a lot more expensive--comparable, in fact, to the $105,000 Mercedes-Benz G550. The top remains removable, which makes the Wrangler Unlimited the only four-door convertible SUV on the market For purists, the doors still come off, too, and the windshield can still be folded forward.

Longtime Wrangler fans will also appreciate that the off-road ready suspension system is unchanged and as capable as ever, as is the 202-horsepower 3.8-liter V-6 under the hood, so you can still fling mud and climb rocks with the best of them. The 237 pound-feet of torque is respectable, but for those looking for even more guts, hang on for the 2012 model when the Wrangler moves to a new 3.6-liter V-6 that will likely deliver better fuel economy (the 2011 gets 15 mpg in the city and 19 on the highway) and around 280 horsepower.

Prices for the '11 model start at $22,045 for the two-door and $25,545 for the four-door Unlimited. With that kind of minimal damage to your wallet, both should be a tempting--and far cooler--alternative to compact SUVs and even some midsize family sedans. Best of all, the Wrangler offers something few other vehicles will ever get: respect.

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