La Francia is a coal mine in the Cesar-Ranchería Basin, located in the municipalities Becerril and El Paso, Cesar, Colombia owned by the Goldman Sachs Group. It mines coal from the Paleocene Los Cuervos Formation, time-equivalent with the Cerrejón Formation, which is mined in the northeastern part of the basin in Latin America's largest coal mine, Cerrejón. In 2016, La Francia produced 11.6 Megatons of coal. Producción de carbón en Colombia - UPME
History The mine was owned by Coalcorp Mining until 2010.UPDATE 1-Coalcorp to sell La Francia mine to Goldman unit, Reuters, January 7, 2010 It was acquired by Goldman Sachs for US$200 million in 2010.
It closed in January 2013 after the contractor hired by Colombian National Resources opted out,Matthew Bristow, Colombia's Top Coal Mine Reaches Accord That May End Strike, Bloomberg Business, March 4, 2013 but opened again in January 2014, at a lesser capacity.Peter Murphy, Exclusive: Goldman Sachs miner halts coal exports from Colombia, Reuters, January 9, 2014
During the strikes of 2013, miners occupied the mine and refused offers provided by the companies involved. La Francia, mina de carbón lleva meses paralizada
In 2015, Murray Energy (now known as American Consolidated Natural Resources) purchased the mine from Goldman Sachs.
As of August 2020, the mine has suspended operations indefinitely.
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