Drummond

Drummond Company, Inc.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/61/Drummond_Co_Logo.gif
Type	Private
Founded	1935
Founder(s)	H.E. Drummond
Headquarters	Alabama & Colombia
Key people	Garry N. Drummond (Chairman & CEO of Drummond Company Inc.); Larry Drummond (Vice Chairman of Drummond Company, Inc.); George Wilbanks (President of Drummond Coal Sales, Inc.); John Pearson (President of ABC Coke Division of Drummond Company, Inc.); Richard Mullen (Senior Vice President of Mining of Drummond Company, Inc.); Jack Stilwell (Senior Vice President and CFO of Drummond Company, Inc.); Augusto Jimenez (President of Drummond, Ltd. Colombia); Bruce C. Webster (General Counsel of Drummond Company, Inc.)
Industry	Coal Mining
Products	Coal and Coal Derivatives
Website	http://www.drummondco.com; http://www.drummondco.com/operations/coal/Colombia.aspx

Drummond Ltd. describes itself as "principally engaged in the business of mining, purchasing, processing and selling of coal and coal derivatives."

On its website it states that it "controls reserves totaling over 2 billion tons and shipped over 24 million tons of coal in 2006. Drummond primarily produces low sulfur or compliance coal, meeting Phase II requirements of the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act." The company's current mining operations are in Alabama in the United States and its La Loma mine in Cesar Department in Colombia, serving customers in both the U.S. and Europe.

Company History

The company was founded in 1935, with the vision of H.E. Drummond, an entrepreneur who entered into coal business in Alabama. Upon his death in 1956, his sons built upon their father’s vision for the company. By the early 1970s, Drummond entered into the export coal market and quickly became an industry leader. In the late 1980s, Drummond expanded offshore and secured extensive mining rights in Colombia because of the significant low-cost, low-sulfur coal market opportunities.

Production began in 1995 at La Loma; in 1997 Drummond acquired El Descanso; and in 2003 acquired Rincon Hondo and Similoa reserves. These reserves have made Drummond one of the two largest miners of Colombian Coal. Drummond is now a major long term competitor in the international coal market, with over 2 billion tons of reserves that are strategically positioned relative to key power generation markets in the U.S. and Europe.

Colombian Coal

Drummond produced 22 million tonnes from its La Loma mine in Cesar Department in northern Colombia.

On its website the company states that it bought the La Loma mine in the late 1980's and that "development commenced in the early 1990’s." The thermal coal produced from the mine is marketed in 13 countries under the trade name Aire Amigo which the company states is "very low in NOx emissions, which is highly desirable to utility plants required to lower these emissions."

On its website the company states that its mining operations "includes Mina Pribbenow, an open-pit coal mine located in the Cesar Coal Basin near La Loma, Puerto Drummond, a deep-water ocean port on the Caribbean Sea near Santa Marta, and coal transportation and handling facilities. Drummond Ltd. transports the coal from the mine 120 miles by railcar on the renovated portion of the Colombian National Railroad System and National Highway directly to Puerto Drummond, the deep-water ocean port."

The company states that company exports from Colombia have grown from "1 million tons in 1995 to 22.9 million tons in 2007."</ref name="Drummond">

Corporate Accountability

Human Rights

Estate of Valmore Lacarno Rodriguez v. Drummond Company
This is the first case to reach trial that cites the Alien Tort Claims Act, a U.S. law created as a part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 that allows foreigners to sue American companies for their conduct abroad.
In 2002, the families of three deceased Colombian labor leaders and the union they belonged to, Sintramienergética, filed suit against Drummond Company, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary Drummond Ltd. in U.S. federal court. The plaintiffs alleged that Drummond hired Colombian paramilitaries to kill and torture the three labor leaders in 2001. Sintramienergética represents workers at Drummond’s coal mining operations in Colombia. The case was brought under the U.S. Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), U.S. Torture Victim Protection Act and Alabama state law.
Drummond sought dismissal of the case. In 2003, the court granted dismissal on the state law claims and one of the ATCA claims. The court declined to dismiss the ATCA claims of extrajudicial killing and the denial of rights to associate and to organize. In March 2007, the court ruled that the case against Drummond Ltd. would go to trial but dismissed the case against the parent company of Drummond Company. In June 2007, the district court judge dismissed the wrongful death claims but allowed the war crime allegations under the ATCA. The trial began in July 2007, and after trial, the 10 person jury acquitted Drummond finding that the company was not liable for the deaths of the three murdered labor leaders. On December 11, 2007, the plaintiffs filed to appeal the lower court’s verdict with U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

Contact Information

Drummond Co., Inc.
P.O. Box 10246
Birmingham, Alabama 35202
Tel: (205) 945-6300

Articles and Resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• Colombia
• Colombia and coal
• Global use and production of coal
• Australia and coal
• Britain and coal
• China and coal
• Germany and coal
• Indonesia and coal
• Japan and coal
• New Zealand and coal
• South Africa and coal
• United States and coal

External Articles

• Stephen Flanagan Jackson, "Colombia Coal Union Strikes Drummond Mines", LatinAmericanPost.com, June 15, 2006.
• Kyle Whitmore, “Alabama Company Is Exonerated in Murders at Colombian Mine", New York Times, July 27, 2007.
• Hugh Bronstein, “Drummond case shows danger facing Colombian unions”, Reuters, November 16, 2006.
• Andrew Gumbel,“US firm sued after mine union leaders' deaths”, The Independent [London], March 25, 2002.
• "Drummond does not negotiate with illegal groups; the Company emphatically rejects all charges against the company and its executives", Drummond Ltd. Press Release, March 21, 2007.
• International Rights Advocates,"Juan Aquas Romero, et al. v. Drummond Company Inc., et al."
• "Romero, et al. v. Drummond, et al. - Appellants' Opening Brief", December 11, 2007.
• US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, "Juan Aquas Romero v. Drummond Company", March 14, 2007.

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